This Ethereal Dream
by Malformed Entity
Summary: Life is but a passing dream, but the death that follows is eternal... Tidus had thought he died but he wakes to find himself living another dream. Will he be able to accept this new dream while a certain Al Bhed girl tries to get closer to him? Tikku! R
1. One

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 10 or any of its characters. I have no legal rights to Square Enix.

Okay, so um… I was replaying FFX and I had this huge urge to write a Tikku fanfic so here I am writing a Tidus/Rikku/Yuna fanfic. This fanfic is going to have spoilers if you haven't finished FFX yet (which would kinda be sad… considering it has been out for so long but that's ok if you just got the game or w/e).

I guess I should write this in third person point of view … shouldn't I? So… let's start this off… from… no, not from the beginning but from the end of the game. OH YEAH! And those who played FFx-2. THIS IS NOT FFX-2 SO DON'T BE LIKE "BLAH BLAH, THAT AINT GUNNA HAPPEN!" yea. Enjoy?

(Well… I haven't read any fanfics like this yet well actually, I haven't read any fanfics in the longest time so hopefully you haven't either… cuz I hate it when I seem like I'm copying people…)

-

"…I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand. Goodbye!" Tidus said to Yuna before he jumped off the airship. His consciousness began to fade and he was only able to hear his friends lightly as Wakka and Rikku talked to him.

"Hey!"

"We're gonna see you again…?"

Yuna ran over to Tidus but fell. He was slowly disappearing and she couldn't grasp him, even her eyes were beginning to lose grip on his figure.

"I love you." Yuna tried to tell the blonde haired fighter but he couldn't hear her anymore. He embraced her one last time knowing he would never see her again. He knew that neither of them could feel each other's presence but it was the most he could do before he went. Finally, Tidus jumped from the airship and joined the men below. Everything in his sight was finally enveloped in a white light and he was gone from there forever.

"Hey!" A very familiar voice called, muted by something. Tidus' eyes shot open but he could barely see, where was he now? In the Farplane? In a new dream? Back in Zanarkand? It took only a moment for him to realize that he was underwater. Tidus swam to the top and found himself in open waters with no land in sight.

"Hey! Are you okay?" The voice called again. Tidus turned around and found himself staring at a large ship. His eyes quickly trailed to the top where he saw a silhouette of a girl. "Well?"

"I'm okay… but… can you get me out of here?" The blitzer waved his arms violently, frustrated and confused as he where he was.

"Okay!" The girl disappeared for a while and came back holding a chain. "Grab on!" She threw it down and held the other end tightly, bracing herself against the side of the ship.

"Got it." Tidus took the chain and he was soon pulled up by the girl. "Hey! You're really strong!" Tidus jumped onto the deck and shook the water off himself. He looked around; everything seemed so familiar to him.

"Ah! Watch it!" The girl backed away, shielding her face from the incoming water flying from Tidus' body.

He stopped shaking and stared at the girl as she removed her hands from her face. Tidus' face warmed at the sight of her, he smiled and began to laugh.

"What?" Rikku scratched the side of her face. Suddenly, she was knocked over by Tidus.

"RIKKU! It's really you!" Tidus squeezed her tightly and continued to laugh. Rikku's face began to turn red.

"Let go of me!" She pushed him off harshly and stepped backwards, feeling uneasy.

"Haha!" He turned around and reached for the clouds, laughing excitedly.

"Are you sick or something?" Rikku brushed the water from her armor.

"Not at all! I'm feeling great!" Tidus jumped up and ran back in front of her. He held onto her arms and nodded. "You must know where everyone else is then, right?"

"Huh? Everyone else?"

"You know, the whole group… Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri…" His face darkened and he began to trail off as Rikku stared at him in confusion.

"Sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." She shook her head.

"But…" Tidus scratched his head. "We were fighting Sin, remember? Huh?"

"Ugh… more like getting hit by Sin. The ship could have sunk. You were the only one who fell into the water though."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Remember?..." Rikku sighed. "We were talking right there…" She pointed to a spot on the deck. "and Sin attacked us out of the blue! You fell into the water and we lost sight of you for almost half a day! It's amazing you're still alive."

"No way! I don't believe it! I remember that!... but I remember waking up in Besaid afterwards and meeting up with everyone. I found you in Moonflow afterwards. Uhh…" He thought for a moment. "You kidnapped Yuna, and you were in the… um… Ex.. Extractor! I beat you up. Remember?" He tried to explain himself, there was no way he was still where he was before his adventure began.

"YOU beat ME up? You wish!" Rikku punched Tidus in the side and scoffed.

"Agh!" He fell over and grasped his ribs, gritting his teeth from the pain. "Hey! I was only telling you what happened!"

"That never happened! We found you yesterday, in the ruins where **I **saved you from the fiend. The others wanted to kill you but **I **let you live. We went down into the ancient ruins and fought a very strong fiend, then we came back up and you were dozing off. I woke you up to give you some food and you choked on it because you ate too fast. Then we talked about going to Luca and you fell into the water because Sin attacked us." She explained to him exactly what had happened. "And…" She removed her helmet. "Now you're here."

"But…" Tidus fell on his back, heartbroken. "…then everything that happened…"

"Just another dream? Sin's toxin must have really gotten to you…" Rikku spoke with a softer voice this time.

"Another… dream? … Is that what they meant when everyone told me that I was dreaming? Then how can I know this isn't just another dream?" Tidus was infuriated. He slammed his fist against the floor and screamed. "How do I know you're not just another person in another of my dreams!" He shot up and grabbed Rikku by the arms again, shaking her slowly.

"Well… I know that I'm not a dream… is that good enough?" She remained calm, feeling sympathy for this man.

"Forget it…" He let go of her and walked off.

"…So… what was this dream about?" Rikku followed.

"Just forget it, okay?"

"Well… you said something about… Yuna?"

"Yea?"

"I know a Yuna… maybe if we find her… just maybe, she'll recognize you?"

"Really?..." Tidus looked around and tried to make her believe him one last time. "… so… is she like… your cousin or something?"

"Huh?" Rikku walked closer to him. "How'd you know that?"

So maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe… it was just a… vision of the future?

Suddenly, a quote from Seymour flashed in his head. "Life is but a passing dream, but the death that follows is eternal." Was everything that had happened just a passing dream, and now he is living in eternal death? Or maybe, it was truly just a dream and he never really died? Tidus fell into a deep trance and went through everything in his head.

"Hey… First… we go to Luca, kay?" She tapped his shoulder reassuringly and smiled. The young Al Bhed turned around and headed for controls, shedding the rest of her damp armor along the way.

"Luca… maybe I'll find Wakka there." Tidus bowed his head and leaned against the wall by the door Rikku had just entered. He could at least still remember that he was not invited inside. Soon enough, he fell asleep and had a dream.

"Yuna?" He saw the shape from beyond the thick fog, standing on the edge of a dock. "Yuna, it's me, Tidus!" Tidus began to run towards her but no matter how hard he tried; the dock seemed to be never-ending. He stopped and collapsed, exhausted. "Yuna! Turn around!" He sighed. "Please…"

Finally, the figure turned around and walked closer while the fog began to thin out. His spirits began to rise and he had the strength to stand up again. "Yuna…" Suddenly, the face on Yuna's body transformed into Rikku's.

"Hey!" Tidus felt a kick on his bruised side. He jolted up and hit the person kicking him.

"WHOA!" Rikku screamed and fell on her back. She rolled over and crouched on her knees, holding her nose. "OW! YOU BIG MEANIE!"

Tidus panicked and ran to aid the girl, helping her up and rapidly checking her face for any wounds. "S-SORRY! I didn't mean to- you were standing too close… I fell asleep an-and y-you… just woke me up! I'm s-sorry!" He bowed his head violently as he apologized.

"Is it bleeding!" Rikku fanned her face with her hand as she held her nose with the other, jumping up and down.

"L-lemme check!" Tidus pulled her hand from hernose and looked closely at her face. He had never realized how much she looked like Yuna, except she was different. Rikku's eyes were more striking and dramatic and her face was rounder, younger. His facial expression calmed as she dropped her hands and stopped moving, letting him examine her face. "… no… it's not bleeding."

Rikku held her nose and turned around. "Good. Otherwise, I'd have you kick your butt again."

Tidus gripped his side and shook his head. "Sorry, I'll be more careful next time."

"Yea yea. Whatever…" Rikku rubbed her nose to make sure it was alright and turned around again. "Just wanted to tell you that I got my brother to head for Luca early. We were going to bring the Al Bhed Psyches there in a while anyway."

"Al Bhed Psyches…" From what he remembered, the Aurochs would win against them and meanwhile, Yuna would get kidnapped by the Al Bhed. Knowing that the Al Bhed weren't going to harm her, he nodded and decided not to bring it up.

"So meanwhile, you can rest up. Okay? Maybe a nap could clear your head and help you with that toxin, huh?" Rikku smiled and walked back inside the ship.

"Uh…" After the dream he had, he didn't really know if he wanted to go back to sleep. Tidus leaned against the wall again, standing up this time to make sure he wouldn't doze off.

"Hey! Are you coming in or what?" The Al Bhed peered from the door and frowned at him. "You want to sleep on the deck?"

"Huh? You mean, I can go INTO the ship?" Tidus pointed to himself.

"Yea! I mean, unless you want to stay out there in the cold…" She stated the option and looked at her glove nonchalantly.

"No way! I'm coming in!" He shook his head quickly and ran into the ship, following Rikku to another room.

"Here. You can stay in my room. I won't be sleeping anytime soon so take a nap and don't come out unless I tell you. Brother and the others hate it when I bring non- Al Bheds inside the ship." Rikku ushered him into the room and checked the hall for any sign of other Al Bhed.

"You mean there are other captives too?" Tidus arched a brow.

"Well… actually…no, but you get the point. You don't want to talk to Brother, he doesn't understand English." Rikku stood by the door as Tidus made his way to her bed. "Plus uh… he might want to kill you too." Rikku closed the door and went back to the control room.

"So this is it… another… dream." Tidus spoke out loud as he sat on the soft bed. "Might as well get used to it… I don't want to waste my time trying to find a way back to Zanarkand anymore. I probably won't be able to get back to _my_ Spira either." He fell on his back and curled up on his side. He closed his heavy eyes and accidentally fell asleep again. This time he didn't dream of Yuna, he didn't dream of Rikku or anything of that sort. This time he dreamt only of Blitzball and Zanarkand.

-

So there you go, first chapter. Hm. I don't really know if you like it so give me an idea, okay? Review if you want to see more, and… Review if you don't! I hope you all know that reviewing really helps an author. Oh yeah. I'm also gunna write a fanfic soon… 'nother T/R/Y … but I don't know… if I use up all my ideas in this fanfic, I don't think I will. I'll just have to see. But yeah I R-E-A-L-L-Y hoped you liked this and will continue reading. So, until next time, I say…Farewell, or Vynafamm in Al Bhed. –wink- Oh, and for those T/Y fans. Sorry ifget very one sided with this.


	2. Two

Second Chapter, ya? Bold English translation of Al Bhed… but I'm sure you'll know when you get there.

OH SNAP! I just found like two stories that are kinda like this! –cries- Why am I always so clichéd? But… hey. They're both about how Tidus never met the others in the first place… so it's different… right? –sigh- I hope you'll still be interested in my fanfic though. BUT! I promise you that I won't even sneak a peek so my story comes out nice and original, okay? I PROMISE!

The Maestro: I agree totally! Aurikku is like father/daughter! 35 and 15 … come on. That's more than double her age! P

I really would have loaded this 2 days earlier but has been having some problems. Sowwy

Well… nothing else to say so lets get on with it! Enjoy?

-

"Goal!" The buzzer sounded in Tidus' dream and his arms shot into the air. He had just performed the Jecht shot and scored the winning goal for the Zanarkand Abes. He turned back to his team and found himself alone in the sphere. He swam out and headed for the locker room. Inside were the Aurochs, sitting solemnly around their captain. Tidus pushed through Keepa and Botta to see what was going on. Wakka was resting on the bench, wincing in pain.

"Wakka…?" Tidus whispered as another voice was heard from behind him. It was Lulu. She walked right through him and kneeled by Wakka's side.

With a blink, he was in another place. He was standing in front of fans, each holding a blitzball. "Teach us how to blitz!" The little ones cried out.

"Heh." Tidus scratched his head and nodded. When he looked up, it was Sin again. A crash was heard and Tidus fell off the bed.

"Huh? Wha? Ah…" He looked around rapidly, getting back to reality. Tidus finally pushed himself off the ground and got to his feet.

_Fa ryja naylrat Luca! Fa ryja naylrat Luca! _**We have reached Luca! We have reached Luca!** The loudspeaker screamed Brother's voice throughout the ship.

"Huh? Something about Luca?" Tidus moved the curtains aside and peered out the window. They were stationed by the dock and he could see the Al Bhed leaving in single file from the deck. "Where's Rikku? ... Should I go outside?" He sighed and opened the door, he was getting impatient.

"Uid! Uid!" **Out! Out!** A couple of Al Bhed ran past him, each holding a type of machina. The language was unclear for him even now. He had collected a few Al Bhed Primers on his journey but never really paid much attention to learning.

"Lybdeja! Fryd yna oui tuehk ehceta dra creb? Fryd yna oui tuehk eh so cecdan'c nuus?" **Captive! What are you doing inside the ship? What are you doing in my sister's room? **Brother was right behind him. He pulled Tidus into a headlock and squeezed lethally.

"Fryd yna oui tuehk? E dumt oui du fyed vun sa! Mad ku, Brother! _E_ mad res eh." **What are you doing? I told you to wait for me! Let go, Brother! _I_ let him in.** Rikku stopped in her tracks and spoke to them.

"Ugh! All this Al Bhed! I don't understand!" Tidus pushed against the strong man, struggling to get away.

"Fryd? Fryd tet oui cyo? Oui tyna cbayg drec fyo du ouin pnudran?" **What? What did you say? You dare speak this way to your brother?** Brother released Tidus and advanced towards Rikku, holding his fist in front of her face.

"Bubc dumt _sa_ du pa eh lrynka duu." **Pops told _me_ to be in charge too.** Rikku scoffed and pushed Brother aside.

"Fro yna oui bnudaldehk res?" **Why are you protecting him?** Brother mumbled.

"Palyica**…" Because…** Rikku paused for a moment and walked on, grabbing Tidus' arm to get him to move.

"Okay… what just happened?" Tidus was pulled along but he gladly followed. No way was he staying with Brother in this ship.

"I told you to stay inside, don't you listen?" Rikku growled softly and pulled him up onto the deck. "Brother gets really overprotective. He thinks everyone that isn't Al Bhed is a fiend, especially the guys. And you were in my room too!"

"Hey! You let me in there!" Tidus rubbed his sore neck.

"Yea but I told you not to come out unless I told you! What if Brother really killed you?" Rikku lectured him and took her hands off his arm.

"Hey! I can fight for myself." He patted his chest.

"Is that why he had you in a headlock?" She smirked.

"Well… uh…" Tidus blushed in embarrassment and shrugged.

"Just listen to me next time, okay? Or Brother won't be so nice. And neither would I."

"You call this nice?" Tidus muttered under his breath.

"Brother is very irrational, you know? So don't get on his bad side or he'll kill you for real… and that would be-" Rikku stopped and shook her head. _A real shame._

"Hm?" Tidus tilted his head.

"uh… messy. I'm not cleaning _that _up." She easily covered it up and began walking off the deck.

"…uh… so… when are the games?" Tidus caught up to her and changed the subject.

"Tomorrow. The Al Bhed Psyches are doing some last minute training in the stadium. The rest of us are… well… we'll be busy."

"Right…" This only reminded him of Yuna. He gazed at the floor and frowned.

"So!" Rikku's mood changed all of a sudden and she began to smile again. "You blitz, right?"

"You know it!" Tidus smirked and raised his chin.

"Then show me what you can do!" Rikku smiled and ran into the locker room. Tidus followed promptly.

"You want_ me_ to play?" Tidus asked as he caught the ball Rikku threw at him.

"You betcha! I don't know how to play but I'll watch. So, 'Star Player of the Zanarkand Abes'… lets see how good you are." She nodded towards the sphere pool and ushered him into it as soon as he nodded.

Tidus opened his eyes and saw a group of Al Bhed shooting on the other side. He turned around and saw Rikku, she nodded and gave him a thumbs up. For some reason, he really wanted to impress her but then again, he always liked to impress people. Tidus threw the ball into the water and pushed it up above the surface with his head. He performed his special kick and sent the ball flying into the goal, ripping the water around it as if it was just air. He turned back to Rikku and gave a smug grin.

She was in awe, with her jaw as low as it could be. Rikku nodded excitedly and gave him two thumbs up. Tidus responded by pretending to dust his hands. Suddenly, a couple of the Al Bhed Psyches pulled them aside and patted him on the back. He was finally beginning to feel accepted by the Al Bhed. They all quickly headed out of the sphere and back into the locker room.

The Al Bhed Psyches talked to Rikku in their own language and finally Rikku went to talk to Tidus.

"They want to ask you if you want to play for them tomorrow."

"Really? Me? Sur-" Tidus hesitated, thinking of Wakka and the Besaid Aurochs. "Uh… yeah… I don't know."

Rikku turned back to the team and spoke. One of the team members walked up nicely to Tidus and handed the ball to him.

"Hmm? Hmm? Blitz? You? Yes?" He tried hard to communicate with his heavy accent.

"I-I… just don't know!" Tidus began to get angry again. He didn't want to play against Wakka, knowing how devoted Wakka was. He didn't think he would be able to see him hurt himself.

The man sighed and took the ball back. Rikku stared at Tidus with a disappointed look and suddenly, it reminded him of Yuna whenever she was sad. A new energy surged in his heart and he grabbed the ball. "Alright." He nodded and glanced at Rikku again to see her smiling again; it made him want to smile too.

"Yay!" Rikku jumped into the air and tugged Tidus' arm. He held his breath and blushed lightly. "Come on! Lets check what there is to see in Luca!"

"Uh, sure…" Tidus nodded and walked out of the locker room with Rikku following.

The two of them walked around for a while until Rikku began to speak again. "Hm... you starting to feel better from that toxin?"

"Yea. I remember a lot of stuff now…" He decided to play along and pretend to be better. "I remember my mom used to bring me to watch Blitzball games all the time, when I was small.

"Really? Where's your mom now?"

"I'd…rather not talk about it." Tidus looked away and closed his eyes.

"Oh… I know what you mean…" Rikku looked to the ground and frowned. She turned to him again and asked cheerfully. "What about your da-…" The teen gasped and shook her head. "Never mind."

"Heh… uh… yea… They both died… my dad died on a… journey and my mom… she just gave up living."

"… My mom… a machina went on a crazy rampage… and killed her." Rikku said in almost a whisper.

"Uh…" Tidus blinked uncomfortably as he watched Rikku close her eyes and sigh. Then he remembered a conversation he had with Rikku one time in Guadosalam, how happy she seemed when they talked, and decided to change the subject again. "S-so… you only have a brother?... Any other siblings?"

"Naw. I sure wish I did though. I want some little siblings… so I could teach them things and play with them... but… I'll never get the chance." She looked into the sky and forced a smile. "So are you an only child then?"

"Yea… my dad always drank and never came home… It made me so mad. But my mom would love him no matter what… Even then though... I never got siblings to play with either. Back then… I'd just feel so lonely whenever my mom wasn't there." Tidus didn't even think before saying all of that; he was just too preoccupied by the conversation.

"Well! When _I_ get married, I'm going to have lots of children! So they never get lonely!" Rikku added optimistically and smiled at him, nodding.

"That's great, Rikku. I hope you get the chance."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh…" _Great… what a way to ruin the happy atmosphere_. "Just saying… what with Sin and all."

"You always do that?" Rikku looked at him angrily.

"Do what?"

"…Ruin everybody's mood… You're such a party pooper." She took a playful punch at his arm and continued to walk the streets of Luca. On impulse, Tidus caught up to her and walked by her side. "… I guess you're right though… a lot of people in Spira get married really early. They marry the first person they fall in love with… because they never know if they'll get another chance. You know?" They stopped walking and Rikku looked at him, waiting for a response.

Tidus looked at the clouds overhead as Yuna's wedding ran through his head. He smiled as he remembered how Yuna jumped off the side of the building and was caught by her Aeon. "Yea."

"I would get married as soon as possible too… I just haven't found the right guy yet." She lowered her head and blushed.

"I still haven't found my girl either." The words escaped from his mouth but he wasn't sure what he meant when he said that. Did he mean that he hadn't found Yuna yet? Or maybe it was just the literal meaning…

All this talking of marriage made Rikku happy, causing her to smile as she continued to blush. "You'll find her one day, don't worry." She faced him and gave an encouraging smile.

_Who knows? …Think it could be me?_

-

Yuppo! Done w/ that chapter! On to the other! But before that…

That whole scene with the marriage is similar to the one in the game. (although you gotta have high affection levels with Rikku to get that at Guadosalam) You'll notice that a lot of this fanfic will have actual events in it… you know. Make it all the believable…

Uh… Review!

Er… TIKKU ROCKS!

_Weeeeeeeeeeee! Italics!_


	3. Three

Third Chapter! I've been speeding through like crazy cuz I just love Tikku so much! Well here we go! I finally read a couple more tikkus in my free time and HECK, how the heck do I compare with **_THAT_**? Short one here, just a _bit_ of fluff. Literally, not trying to be ironic or anything.

And yes. THE epitome of robbing the cradle. –growls at the grumpy 35 year old in ffx, then snickers at you guys- You'll never guess who I'm growling at.

Enjoy?

-

When they both shook the conversation off, they continued to walk again as if nothing happened.

"Rao Rikku. Ruf yna oui?" **Hey Rikku. How are you?** An Al Bhed man from the ship waved to her as he walked off with a bunch of tools and machina.

"Kuut! Yna drao nayto vun ajanodrehk?" **Good! Are they ready for everything? **Rikku waved back.

"Uh. Hehe." Tidus forced a laugh, feeling completely out of place.

"You should really learn Al Bhed! That way, maybe Brother will like you better!"

"I think I know a little… uhh.. Hela du vaad oui! It means Nice to meet you, right?" Tidus struggled to remember what he had learned before.

The thief covered her mouth and giggled. "Close enough… you missed it by one letter. You said 'Nice to feet you.' But that's okay; your pronunciation isn't that bad… if you want… I can give you lessons."

"Sure, that'd be great!"

"But you know… my lessons don't come cheap…" Rikku grinned at Tidus.

"Uh… never mind then… I'm broke... everything fell out when I fell into the water." He lowered his head and pulled everything he had in his pockets; some dried lint and a piece of string.

"Hey, I was just kidding. I'll teach you something right now." She tugged on his sleeve and brought him to the docks, setting him on one of the trade boxes. In the small pile of sand in front of them, Rikku spelled out Rammu. "This means Hello." She wrote Oui underneath it. "This means You, I already told you that." She wrote another word, "Kuut" and nodded. "It means Good." Finally, she wrote Ruf yna oui. "This means how are you… wanna try speaking it now?"

"Yea… uh sure…" Tidus moved in his seat to get into a better position and then recited what he had heard perfectly. "Rammu! Ruf yna oui! Kuut!"

"Nice! You catch on quickly!" She erased the words in the sand and started to write new ones when a distressed ship anchored at the dock. "Huh?" She looked up and saw a group of people rushing towards the ship.

"Kilika Island! It's been attacked by Sin!" One of the crew members shouted from the ship.

"What?"

"Are the people alright?"

"Is the temple safe?"

"Oh Yevon be with us."

The group asked their own separate questions and reactions. Tidus had his own. "Is Yuna okay? Are they all okay? Did they even go to Kilika Island?" Of course he hadn't asked it out loud but he had his answer either way.

"I heard Summoner Yuna was near Kilika. Is she safe?" An old man asked the captain of the ship.

"She's fine. In fact it was her guardians who fought Sin and saved the village from more damage."

Tidus smiled in relief and turned back to the sand. Rikku saw the concern in his face but couldn't hear the conversation. "You know someone in Kilika?"

"Uh… no. It's just upsetting to hear about Sin's attacks."

"Oh… alright. Let's not talk about that then." She bounced off her seat and faced him. "If no one recognizes you in Luca… are you still coming with us?"

"I guess so… it's not like I know or trust anybody else…" Tidus looked up from his seat, his aqua colored eyes met with the Al Bhed's for a split second. "I mean… If you don't mind, that is."

"Not at all! I'd…" She looked up and scratched her face nervously. "…like some good company…"

"Yea…? You're my only friend after all…" Tidus nodded at the ground. He had many friends, a whole group of them but now all he had was… Rikku. Not to say that it was a bad thing…

"Friend, huh?" Rikku's face lit up. She gave a smile and giggled to herself. "That's the first time a non-Al Bhed ever called me that…"

"…" Tidus looked up and smiled too. "Let's go for another walk."

"Alright!" She answered and started walking into the city. Tidus kept his seat, trying to catch a few last words from the villagers and crew members. "Come on, slowpoke!"

"Roger!" He ran up to Rikku and nearly passed her. "Where are we going?"

"Not sure, I'm not so familiar with these parts. We Al Bhed try to keep our distance from popular towns… because of all those Al Bhed haters."

"Because you guys use machina?"

"That's right! Your toxin really is clearing up!" Rikku knocked his head gently with the back of her hand.

"You know, machina isn't all that bad…It isn't even the reason why Sin comes back."

"Huh? You really think that?"

"Yea, I mean… Yevon is just a bunch of lies. Sin isn't going to go away just because we become pure and repent. Sin will come back every time a summoner defeats it. It's a waste of time for the summoner to do what they must do… it's just a never-ending cycle."

"I agree… but you know. A summoner sacrifices their life to bring hope in Spira. Some people believe that that is worth it… to die and bring relief to the people is rewarding in its own way. But I agree… Sin will always come back… and we just can't sacrifice summoners anymore."

"Yea! We'll just find a way to defeat Sin without sacrificing summoners!" Tidus remembered saying this to Rikku before and of course he knew the way, just not how to explain it to her without looking like a complete idiot.

"Well… I think we have a little plan."

"You guys are going to kidnap the summoners, aren't you?"

"Whoa. You're one smart guy! How'd you know?"

"Just… a wild guess?" Tidus shrugged awkwardly and followed Rikku towards the fountain in the center of Luca.

"Yea. We're kidnapping the summoners… I know Yevon will never forgive us… but they don't like us anyway. We'll use our machina to kill Sin and if he comes back, we'll blast him with all we got until he dies for sure."

"…You say that as if it would really work…" Tidus remembered all the Crusaders that died in Operation Mi'ihen. "What if more people die that way?"

"Eh…" She paused and sat down by the fountain. "I guess… I never thought of it that way."

"Ever heard of Operation Mi'ihen?" He took a seat next to her.

"Tidus!" Rikku practically threw him to the floor and covered his mouth. She looked all around her; people, young and old, were staring at the two with eyebrows raised. "Hehe… he's drunk." She explained to the few people closer to them and turned back to Tidus to whisper, "H-How'd you know about this? No one knows except for the Crusaders and Al Bhed."

"I had a dream about it?" Tidus pried the fingers off his face as he blurted anything out. Well, it wasn't actually a lie in the end of it all, was it?

"A dream huh? What happened in it?" She moved back to her seat and pulled her legs to her chest.

"A lot of people died. Sin formed a shield and blocked everyone's attacks. It countered by shooting a shockwave, killing almost everyone on the beach."

"So it didn't help at all?" Rikku stared at the stone floor silently. "Hundreds will be there… are you telling me that they might all die… in vain?" She commented, almost stuttering the last words.

"Mhmm…" He nodded at her and threw his head back to stare at the sky.

"Heh… but that won't happen with me there. I'll make sure of it." Rikku told Tidus nervously, not sure if she could even believe it herself.

"You're going to fight too?" Tidus looked at her, concerned. "You can't! You might…"

"I have to! I'm the leader's daughter. Brother will be there too."

"Right…" He sighed disappointedly and continued to act as if he never met her before. "Your father is the leader of your people?"

"Yea… it's hard sometimes because he always wants me to lead our people with Brother. I don't know if I want or can do that."

"Must be something to live up to… my father was the Star Player of the Zan-… I mean… star player of his team."

"And now you're star player of yours?"

"Yep! So I'm sure you'll be a great leader some day too!" He patted her on the back and stood up, stretching.

"So… do you still believe you're from Zanarkand?"

"Well, I'd like to believe that… and that I could one day go back there."

"Oh." Rikku nodded and stood up as well. "I believe you. Weird things happen all the time, you really could have gone 1000 years into the future!"

"Hey! After we find a way to defeat Sin, I'll find a way to go Zanarkand! And then I can show you…" Tidus spoke with certainty but as he continued his sentence, he slowed down. This reminded him of Yuna again. It seemed as if everything he did or said would always remind him of her. At the same time, he felt relief when he said this to Rikku. At least she wouldn't be offended by his offer… it wasn't like she was going to sacrifice herself to defeat Sin. He inhaled sharply at the thought. "Everything…!"

"It must be pretty there…" Rikku closed her eyes and tried to imagine the lost city of a thousand years.

"It is…" For a split second, Tidus felt as if he was talking to Yuna again. He shook his head and slapped himself mentally. No matter what, she wasn't Yuna… He had to accept that. For a while, he got angry again. Rikku was a very nice girl and he never really got the chance to talk to her this way but Rikku was Rikku and he had to stop thinking otherwise. _Man, just enjoy talking to Rikku for once. _He ordered himself and quickly shook his thoughts from his mind.

"It's not so bad here either." The blonde Al Bhed pointed to the darkened sky. It had turned to night so quickly, Tidus hadn't noticed. The stars shined brightly, winking at the two. Tidus smiled at the beautiful sight; gleaming lights in the sky with a thin blanket of clouds covering the brilliant moon.

"Rikku!" Brother's voice called out fiercely.

"Fryd?" **What?** Rikku turned around to her brother.

"Fa bnabyna vun dusunnuf. Nadinh du dra creb." **We prepare for tomorrow. Return to the ship. **Brother ordered as he glared at Tidus.

"Veha…" **Fine…** She sighed and gestured Tidus to follow her. "Come on, we should head back to the ship."

"Okay." He followed her back, trying not to look Brother in the eyes. Brother was standing stiffly with his arms crossed and as Tidus made his way across, the Al Bhed grunted and ran ahead of them.

That night Brother forced Tidus to stay on the deck. It wasn't too bad, the ship wasn't moving so it wasn't as cold. Rikku barely spoke the way to the ship and headed in as soon as they got there. It wasn't until the middle of the night that he saw her again. She came out with a tray of food. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until then; he hadn't eaten for almost an entire day!

"Don't eat so quickly this time, okay?" Rikku smiled and began to leave.

"Wait!" Tidus stood up, feeling the need to have company. "Can you talk to me for a while?" He wasn't sure what to talk about but they were always able to bring something up.

"Uh, sure." They both sat down, facing each other.

"So… do you think the Al Bhed Psyches could win?" Tidus said between gulps of food.

"They're not the best team in Spira but they've got their good points. I think they could definitely win against the Besaid Aurochs though. Those guys haven't won a single game for longer than I've been alive!" Rikku's eyes showed hope in her people's team. "And hey, maybe you'll score the winning goal, huh?" She nudged him but he wasn't exactly smiling.

"Yea…" Tidus tried not to think about his old life in Spira, determined that this was it and he had to move on. "Then I hope the captain picks the Besaid Aurochs so we can win!" He knew that it was something Rikku would have wanted to hear but it wasn't anything he wanted to say.

"That'd be a sight to see! Not sure if I'll be able to watch the game though. I'll be on a mission."

"Oh." He thought of Yuna again but immediately wiped her face from his thoughts. "Then you'll watch us in the finals!"

"You really think you'd get to play in the finals?"

"Yea, why not?"

"You dream big. That's good." He didn't respond, pausing for a while before he began to eat again. "I'll… see you tomorrow." Rikku cheerfully whispered and went back into the ship after a long moment of silence between them.

The blitzer finished the remainder of his meal and rolled onto his back. With a full stomach, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Luckily, Tidus' mind was too full of blitzball and the tournament to cause him to have any disturbing dreams.

-

Third chapter, done. Not that good but I hope you'll read on.

4th chapter… coming soon to all theatres! I'll get this on sooner than I usually update because this chapter was kind of a jip. (or at least I thought it was)


	4. Four

Okay, I guess I didn't upload as quickly as I wanted cuz I'm lazy. Here we go. Enjoy?

-

Tidus woke up right on time; it was sunrise and team introductions would start soon. He rapidly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and breathed the chilly ocean air. He sat up and stretched, feeling quite revitalized and ready for the game today. Suddenly, the metal squeaking of a door called his attention to the ship entrance.

"Good morning." He greeted the random Al Bhed but the man simply shrugged at the language. Tidus' eyes followed the man nervously, bowing his head every so often.

"Try saying 'Kuut sunhehk' instead." Rikku appeared from behind him.

"Huh? Okay! K-kuut sunhehk!"

"Not bad. Maybe you're part Al Bhed." She winked and stretched in the sunlight. "Ready for the game?"

"As ready as can be!" Tidus punched the air.

"That's great. Just be caref-." Rikku was interrupted by the loudspeakers in Luca. They noticed the other ships arriving as well.

"Ah, over there! The ships carrying the players are arriving now! This would be dock number 2. All the way from Kilika, it's the Kilika Beasts! High Summoner Ohalland used to play for them -- a big name to live up to. Their hometown was recently attacked by Sin. Isn't that right, Jimma?"

"Yes, Bobba. They're going to be pulling out all the stops to try and bring back the cup this year."

"Exciting, isn't it, folks? Our next team off the ramp is... Well, well, well! If it isn't the Besaid Aurochs! They're a living, breathing, statistical impossibility! I've never seen a team this bad! That's right! In twenty-three years they've never made it past the first round! Only a few die-hard fans are in the audience today."

"Best of luck to them, and a safe journey back to Besaid."

"Right, Jimma. Moving right along, our next team is... Here they are, folks! Our very own Luca Goers! They've got power! They've got speed! They've got teamwork! They're an all-around first-class team! And they're back home in Luca!"

"Without a doubt, they are the favorite this year, Bobba. And after the way they dominated last year, it'd take a _miracle_ for them to lose today."

"You can say that again, Jimma. Look at the crowd, folks! Look at the crowd! Looks like all of Luca has turned out to cheer the Goers on! They know, I know, and you know, folks! The Luca Goers are number one!"

"Lastly, we have the Al Bhed Psyches! Not a shabby team, don't you think, Bobba?"

"We don't have a lot of fans of Al Bhed Psyches though, Jimma."

The Al Bhed Psyches ran out in a single file, growling and intimidating everyone around. As Rikku pushed Tidus to run with them a couple of spectators threw rocks at Tidus and the others, booing.

"Al Bhed haters…" Rikku mumbled under her breath and jumped off the deck. "Hey! You leave them alone!"

"What did you say, swine?" A tall man addressed Rikku.

"You'll pay for that!" She pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at the group of Al Bhed haters. A few of them fell into the water and the others ran away. Tidus tried to run back to restrain her but two Luca police officers took custody of her first.

"Oh! This does not look good, Bobba."

"That's right, Jimma. If the Al Bhed get into a fight, they could be disqualified! For the sake of the game, let's hope they calm their chocobos!"

"Let go of me!" Rikku struggled under the force of two grown men.

"By the order of Yevon and laws of the city of Luca, we forbid this kind of behavior on such a day. If you do not comply, the Al Bhed Psyches will be disqualified." One of the officers informed her.

"Alright, just let go." She glanced at Tidus and noted the concerned look on his face. "I'm fine." She quickly calmed herself and furiously ran back into the ship.

All the teams ran into their locker rooms and their captains left to draw match-ups. The Al Bhed talked excitedly in their language while Tidus sat on a bench in silence. He felt so out of place and foreign around them. When the captain came back, he headed straight for Tidus. "Hmm! Blitz…Besaid!"

"Besaid Aurochs?" Tidus was surprised the two teams had chose each other like they did last time.

"You guys are seeded. If you win against them, it's the finals!" Rikku suddenly appeared.

"Really? That's great!"

"Think you can do it?"

"Yes! I _promise_ we'll get into the finals, how about that?"

"Yea. Have fun!" The teen patted Tidus' shoulder and began to leave. "And… good luck!" She ran back to punch him in the arm before running full speed out of the locker. Tidus watched her run off in her usual spunkiness, leaving a small grin on his face.

"All teams! Please get ready for the first round! Two minutes to get into the sphere pool!" The announcer informed followed by the same message in Al Bhed.

The captain nodded and spoke a few encouraging words in Al Bhed before heading into the sphere pool. Suddenly everything was different again. He had been so psyched up to play in this game and to get into finals but when he reached the center of the water, he couldn't help but think of his old friends again. Would Wakka really try to win this time, even without Tidus' encouragement? What about Yuna? Will anyone save her without him being there? Will the Aurochs still be threatened to throw the game?

Before he knew it, the game started. It sure was weird playing on the other side; he almost passed the ball to Datto one time but that only confused the Aurochs, which of course impressed the Psyches. By halftime, he had finally accepted that he was playing for the Al Bhed and had a promise to keep. Close to the end of the game, the teams were tied at 2:2 which made Tidus all the more determined to win. At the corner of his eye, he could see one of his team members tackle Wakka harshly. The orange haired blitzer stepped over the Al Bhed's back and tried to shoot a goal. Tidus reacted quickly but only touched the ball. It was still enough for the goal keeper to catch it.

The ball was thrown back to Tidus and once he caught it, his mind only focused on the Auroch's goal. Before he knew it, he was stopped by Wakka…it was just him verses his best friend. Wakka glared at him and tackled hard. For a moment, Tidus' consciousness seemed to leave him and he began to sink. Last minute, he threw the ball to one of his team members and within seconds, he heard a loud buzzer. The back of Tidus' neck began to burn, guilt was coursing through his blood and into his brain as the glory of victory began to kick in.

"THAT CONCLUDES THE FIRST ROUND! With the Al Bhed Psyches winning 3 to 2! Boy Jimma, that sure was a game! I've got to say, I have not seen the Aurochs play to hard in my time! They may have lost the game but boy did they play hard!"

"You got that Bobba! As always, I bid them a safe trip back to Besaid and better luck next time! And congratulations to the Al Bhed Psyches! You've made it into the finals!"

Tidus inched his way into the locker room, bruised and tired. When his vision cleared, a man picked him up by the arms and gave him a strong, but friendly hug. His shoulder was throbbing with dull and sharp pains and his leg felt as if he had been hit by a shoopuf. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself off of the man.

"Uh?"

"Fa yna eh dra vehymc!" **We are in the finals!** It was the captain of the team.

"Er… yeah! Sure!" No clue what he was saying.

"… You blitz. Finals!" The captain gave him a smile.

"UH. YEA! Finals!" Tidus returned the thumbs up. "But listen, I don't think I can play. I got hurt." He pointed to his shoulders and leg, hopping around on one foot.

"We win, yes? Finals? Huh?" The Al Bhed didn't seem to understand him at all and continued to ramble about the finals to the rest of the team.

"Hm…" He held his breath and nodded. "Okay." Tidus held onto his sore shoulder and limped lightly outside of the locker room.

"HEY!" A girl's voice called from afar but soon enough, Rikku appeared in front of him. She dusted herself off and wiped the soot off her cheek. "I saw you guys on the big screen! You guys did great!"

"Hey, I said I'd get us into the finals!" Tidus leaned against the wall to keep his balance and dusted his hands off, pointing at himself in pride.

"I didn't think you could do it either!" She admitted irrationally but noticed the look on his face and changed her sentence. "…BUT… now I think you might be able to win the finals!"

"Uh, I don't think I can." He rubbed his shoulder and sighed.

"Why?" Another disappointed look sent his heart into his stomach.

"Uh. Never mind. I'll play. How was your mission?" Tidus jumped onto his feet, almost falling backwards as he tried to look healthy.

"Not sure, I told Brother to take over so I can watch the finals." The two of them turned to the opposite room from them as saddened footsteps echoed through the large hallways.

"Come on, boys! We did well… Cheer up, ya! Lets get back to the ship!" Wakka ran out of their locker room with his team behind him. "First… we've got to find Lulu and Kimahri." As Wakka ran past Tidus, he gave a look, a look Tidus was not familiar with.

"He hates me."

"Well. Duh, they hates us all." Rikku stated as she gave a glare at the team.

"That's it! The Luca Goers win! It was a tough one for the Kilika Beasts! 2 to 0! The final round starts in five minutes! Al Bhed Psyches against our very own Luca Goers! Go Luca Goers!" It was the end of the Second Round.

"You're up next!" She smiled and jumped into the air.

"Yea…! I'll win the cup for you guys! Count on it!" He said, not really paying anymore attention to his injury. "And uh, if I do this when I score a goal," Tidus waved his better arm and held out his index finger, saluting at her. "It'll be for you, okay?"

"Okay! I'll look forward to it! Now go!" Rikku pushed him towards the locker room as a light tint of red glowed on her face.

"Right!" He smiled and ran off. He headed back into the locker room, ready to play his best.

Everything else seemed to move quickly afterwards. It was the first blitz off and once his adrenaline surged through every vein in his body, there was no stopping him. Tidus worked hard to be a team player but nothing seemed to work, all the other team members fumbled or lost the ball easily afterwards. They were surprisingly intimidated by the Luca Goers, probably because of their good repetition. It seemed that he had no choice but to score by himself.

Luckily, his team was better at defense than he thought and blocked every single goal from the Goers. The scores remained at a standstill; 0 to 0 until a minute before the game ended. Tidus looked up at the clock and saw that the game would be going into overtime soon when he saw an opening. He watched as the weakest player caught the ball. He grabbed the ball from him and swam for the goal. He got to the perfect distance and shot, with no interception at all! Then everything slowed down, the ball seemed to dance in the water as it headed for the goal. The goalie barely touched the ball and Tidus shot a fist into the air, tasting victory. The ball hit the side of the goal and reflected back to one of the Goers on the far side of the sphere.

"NO!" Tidus shouted in the water. The ball was passed to a closer member and shot. Before it could reach the goal, the buzzer called and concluded the second half of the game. He smiled at the goal keeper, who caught the ball anyway.

Back in the locker room, the Psyches conversed in their own language. It was like the talk Wakka gave them after half time.

"Tidus… you… blitz. We…" The captain tried to find the word but pounded on his own arm instead.

"Defend?"

"Yes?"

"Uh… KUUT!" **GOOD! **Tidus thought of his Al Bhed lesson from yesterday.

"Kuut!"

All he did was nod and agree. A memory of Wakka flashed in his mind.

"What about me?" Tidus asked after Wakka had forgotten to address him.

Wakka gave him a grin and spoke. "Get the ball and just shoot like crazy!"

"Goers are goin' down!" Datto encouraged his teammates.

"Yeah!" Everyone else screamed out.

"Shoot like crazy!"

"Shoot like crazy…" Tidus whispered and entered the sphere pool. His mind played through the recent memory of his promise to Rikku. "Shoot like crazy! FOR RIKKU!" He was motivated again and his strength was seemingly unlimited.

"Ready? BLITZ OFF!" He had taken front and center and caught the ball first. Off in the stands, Rikku was watching the two teams play; she was nearly off of her seat from excitement.

Tidus maneuvered quickly and brilliantly, dodging and avoiding all defenders when there it was: another perfect opening. He searched the stands quickly for Rikku and spotted her quickly. Rikku stared into the sphere pool and locked eyes with Tidus.

"What's this, Bobba? Why did he stop?"

"I don't know, he seems to be looking at someone in the audience!"

"Ah, you can never do that in Blitzball, because the players don't stop for anyone here!"

He grinned and just before the defenders reached him, he performed his blitz with the ball heading right for the goal. Tidus had acted so quickly, no one noticed that he had shot the goal until after the three defenders rammed into him from all different directions. The ball flew into the goal easily but he wasn't able to see the beautiful sight. His eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

"The Al Bhed Psyches win! Amazing! One for the record books! I assure you, Jimma, the players will be telling their grandkids about this!"

By the time he opened his eyes, he saw Rikku swimming for him with his sword in her hand. In his grogginess, he didn't bother to think of the past and the guilt that came with it. His lips gave her a curve as he noticed the beauty that was swimming towards him. Everyone had evacuated from the pool as quick as they could and forgotten about the star player. She placed the sword in his hand and pointed into the water and as soon as he realized that his life could be in mortal danger, the smile quickly dissolved into the water with a frown to replace it.

Monsters were swimming rapidly around them and soon, they engaged in a fight. Tidus could barely focus his eyes on them, let alone fight. Rikku noticed this and decided to take over the fights. She threw grenades and sliced away with her claw. It was a slow process but they got out of the sphere pool in time.

"You okay?" Rikku asked as they walked into the locker room.

"Yea, I'm fine."

"I saw what happened, you fainted after all! You can't be fine." She touched his shoulder and frowned, trying to reach into her pocket.

"I'll be fine, let's go." Tidus shook his head and headed out of the locker room.

"Okay then let's just head back for the ship and get out of here!" Rikku began to run towards the pier.

"Wait! I forgot something!" He pulled her backwards and when she focused on him, he waved his arm in the air and saluted at her. She laughed to herself and looked around, it really wasn't the time for him to do that but she was glad he did.

"Anima!" A figure from the tallest building unleashed the frightening Aeon. A heavy chain fell into the bowels of the earth and pulled him out.

"Ah!" The thief took shelter behind Tidus and watched as the Aeon obliterated every single monster in Luca. She stepped aside to see the Aeon disappear and gasped. "Whoa… did you see that!"

"I sure did…" Tidus stared at the figure above the tower and cracked his knuckles. Maybe if he could take care of him now, he wouldn't be a threat later. He started for the building when Rikku pulled him back.

"Where are you going? The Al Bhed ship is going to leave soon!"

"Then let it. I've got some business to take care of." He glared at Seymour and tried to leave again.

"Oh no you're not! Huh?" Rikku glanced at the figure and glared at Tidus disapprovingly. "You want to fight him? Are you serious? Did you see how he killed ALL of those fiends?"

"Well…" Tidus didn't know what came over him, maybe it was his concussion.

"Come on before you get hurt." She grabbed his arm and pulled them into the Al Bhed ship. "Come into my room. I'll fix that wound right up."

"Your room again? What if Brother sees?" Tidus struggled to release her grip on him.

"Who cares? It's not like we're doing anything bad." Rikku gave him a weird look and opened the door into her room. Immediately, she gasped.

"Rikku! Oui yna ugyo?" **You are okay? **Brother was expecting them.

"Oay. Oui?" **Yea. You?**

Tidus seized the moment and added. "Oui, Kuut?" **You, Good?**

Brother grinned at the blitzer and nodded. "Kuut. Dra uidcetan syo cdyo ehceta. Ra ryc aynhat ed. Pid ra sicd lusa fedr sa." **Good. The outsider may stay inside. He has earned it. But he must come with me.**

Rikku's eyes lit up and she gave her brother a smile. "Dryhg oui!" **Thank you!**

"Huh?"

"Brother says that you can stay inside, but you've got to go with him."

"Really? Cool!"

"Fa ku." **We go.** Brother ordered and left the room. Tidus turned to follow.

"Wait, before you go." Rikku took his hand.

"Eh?" His face flushed and his eyes widened.

"Here." Opening his palm, she placed an Al Bhed Potion in his hand and patted him on the head like a little puppy. "Feel better."

"Heh. Thanks." Tidus scratched the side of his head and left the room, his cheeks slowly returning to their normal color.

"Tidus." Brother said his name.

"Yes?"

"Lusa." **Come. **

"Okay…" He didn't know what Brother was saying but it sure wasn't hard trying to find out.

Brother brought him into a room at the far end of the ship. "Al Bhed Psyches."

"Huh?"

The Al Bhed nodded and pushed him into the room. It was a large room with a pool in the center. In the back, they had bunk beds and a locker room. The group of Al Bhed Psyches rushed up and picked him up, screaming his name.

"Whoa! Huh? Yea! I know I'm the best!" Tidus placed his hands on his hips. The captain walked up to him, holding some clothing in his hands. He offered it to the blonde and grunted. "What's this?"

"Al Bhed Psyches. You?"

"You want me on your team permanently?" Tidus picked up the uniform and looked at it. It had a light vest, leather belts, pants, boots, gloves, and arm guards that extended to his biceps. "Alright!" Soon enough, Tidus was fully dressed like an Al Bhed. The captain of the team went to him one last time and handed him Al Bhed goggles. It felt great to be part of a team again, to be accepted and appreciated for his talents.

"Oh man, I gotta show Rikku! I bet she won't even know it's me!" He said as he peered into the dirty mirror. With a flash, he jumped out of the locker room and ran straight for Rikku's room. After walking about for a while, it was clear that he was completely lost in this large ship.

Cu oui fanah'd ypma du vekrd dra kiynteyhc du kad dra cissuhan!" **So you weren't able to fight the guardians to get the summoner!** Brother's voice screamed at another Al Bhed aboard the ship.

"E's cunno pid oui yht Rikku mavd du fydlr dra kysa." **I'm sorry but you and Rikku went to watch the game. **A younger Al Bhed's voice seemed to apologize to his leader.

"UGH! Ehcumyhla!" **Insolance! **A small blow was heard, followed by a thud.

"Hey!" Tidus jumped in front of Brother. "Don't hit him!" Immediately after, he backed away and mentally kicked himself in the face. Brother had those murderous eyes again, the ones that he always stared at Tidus with.

"Rao!" **Hey!** A very familiar voice gave Tidus assurance that he would not get killed… yet.

"Oui gaab res uh y dekrd maycr, kud dryd?" **You keep him on a tight leash, got that? **Brother grumbled and left the hallway.

"Cunno…cunno" Rikku apologized to Tidus and then to the man on the floor. The Al Bhed dusted himself off and bowed to his female leader gratefully before sprinting off to his work.

"Huh?" The remaining man tilted his head and shifted his goggles to look at the teenager easier, forgetting that he was trying to trick her.

"Tidus, that is so obvious." She pushed him playfully as giggles came from her.

"Aw man! You caught me off guard!" He pushed her back gently and removed his uncomfortable goggles. "What was that whole thing about anyway?"

-

I think I should write my chapters longer… unless that's annoying to you guys…


	5. Five

Hey, my bad for the OOC for Brother. Not enough character builds up in FFX for me to really know anything about him. Plus, I'm really busy watching Tikku interaction to care for him while I'm playing the game. And sorry for not updating on my usual schedule, some unexpected things happened this week. Okay number 5! Enjoy?

-

"Tidus, remember that mission I told you about?"

"Yea." Tidus nodded and followed Rikku to the deck.

"We tried to kidnap my cousin, she's a summoner." Rikku informed him of what happened.

"Oh…" He tried not to picture Yuna's face; he would have surely stumbled and fallen if he did. "And the guardians got her just in time?"

"No way, we totally beat them up." She stopped. Tidus looked at her disapprovingly. "Well… we had to! We're protecting the summoners! No more sacrificing! Besides, I was just kidding. Some old grumpy guy caught up to us and got her back."

"Yea. I understand. Next time, I'll help you get her." Tidus stepped next to Rikku and beamed. He really did want to help her, not only to get Yuna back but to really help out his only friend.

"Thanks…!" She smiled back but then frowned at his uniform. "Eh… Why are you wearing that anyway?"

"They wanted me on their team permanently, don't you know? How do I look? Almost like an Al Bhed, huh?" Tidus ran a hand through his hair and struck a pose.

"Eh. Not bad. I prefer the old Tidus though." She leaned against the railing.

"Why's that?"

"The old Tidus always had his fly up." Rikku giggled, pointing at Tidus' pants.

"UH!" Tidus jumped into the air and zipped his fly up, blushing extremely hard. "Hey! Who told you to look?"

"How couldn't I? Your pants almost looked like it had a mouth! Good think you had underpants on!" She turned around and laughed.

"Hahaha…" He leaned on the railing as well and began to chuckle.

Seeing Tidus laugh made her laugh harder and soon enough, they were both tearing from the hilarity. He held onto the bar and faced the night sky, laughing incredibly loud. Rikku instantly stopped and backed away.

"You okay?" She tilted her head as Tidus continued to violently laugh. "It wasn't that funny!"

"Hm? I'm sorry." He caught his breath. "I guess I just needed a really good laugh."

"Oh. Why, something happen?" They stared into the dark water, reflecting only the light of the moon and stars above.

"Nothing. Just homesick."

"If you want, I'll bring you to my home one day. It has a lot of machina, so maybe it'll remind you of Zanarkand?"

"That'd be great, Rikku." Tidus exhaled, watching his breath leave him slowly and disappearing into the cold night air. He wasn't entirely sure which home he was longing for… his Spira, or his Zanarkand? "When will we be able to go?"

"Maybe after we go to Mushroom Rock Road. Okay?"

"Isn't that where Operation Mi'ihen will take place?" Tidus was alarmed.

"Yea…I know you said it'll dangerous but it's still worth a shot."

"But, a lot of people will die! You can't do that Rikku, you just can't. Tell them to call it off! Tell them to go home!" He was furious from the thought of what he had seen that day.

"I can't do that, Tidus. I'm not the Al Bhed leader yet, I'm only co-captain of this ship." Rikku said in bitter resentment.

"So tell your dad! Tell your brother!" His blood boiled and the back of his head seemed to burn. He remembered watching young soldiers, some probably younger than Rikku, get knocked off of their feet and being attacked by the Sinspawn. The fiends ripped them limb from limb, innocent men were killed and no one would ever recognize them for their duties. Their faces were even unrecognizable afterwards and what was worst was the fact that they had died in vain. People saw their deaths and laughed, it was just another chance for them to prove that Yevon was right about machina. For the sake of those soldiers and for the Al Bhed, he had to get them to stop the operation.

"It's not as simple as you think. Either way, Sin will kill innocent people but we have a chance to defeat him. Why not take it instead of sitting there and get killed anyway? We could bring hope to Spira, and then everyone can be united again." Rikku said it softly. "We try and that's what brings victory. You've got to understand."

"I …think I do. I guess." He calmed himself. After thinking in silence for a while, he began to question Rikku's beliefs. _Everyone can be united again _seemed improbable. It was foolish to think that defeating Sin would help Spira accept the Al Bhed.

"We'll be there by noon tomorrow but the operation won't start until the next day."

"You're really fighting in it? Aren't you afraid?" Tidus faced her and waited as she shrugged and looked at the sky.

"Not really… I know I'll be fighting for a good cause." She finally answered. "And plus, I have faith in this. I really hope we'll be able to defeat Sin, you know?"

"Hope… it's really the only thing we have these days, huh?" He turned back to the water, hearing a small agreement from Rikku. "Okay!"

"Huh?"

"I'll fight with you! We'll take Sin on together!" He shot a fist into the air but he really didn't know why he had just said what he did. Things seemed to just flood out his mouth recently. Taken over by so many emotions, all Rikku could do was nod. Tidus knew it might be false hope but he knew that killing Sin wasn't able. After all, he did do it once…how hard would it be to do it again?

That night, they stayed on the deck, talking of their past and how they'll fight Sin in the future. Rikku gave him another lesson about Al Bhed and Tidus told her a few secrets about Blitzball. It was funny how easily they were able to talk to each other, as if they had known each other for the longest time. He had known her before but never had he talked to her like this. Neither of them felt uncomfortable or tired and before they knew it, hours had passed and the sun began to rise.

Tidus looked at the Al Bhed from the side as a pinkish-orange glow illuminated her smooth skin and suddenly, he saw his hand reaching up to touch her face. It seemed involuntary but at the same time, he had every intention to do it. A burst of guilt hit him in the face and he rested both of his hands on the railing again. He couldn't do this, he was sure he still had feelings for Yuna. Was be starting to develop some for Rikku too? _Come on, Tidus. Pull it together. You're obviously just going crazy at this point!_

"Don't you think sunrises are prettier than sunsets…?" Rikku questioned, completely oblivious of what just happened.

"Huh?" He gazed into the horizon and watched as the ball of fire brought light to every corner of the sky. "They are kinda nice."

"It reminds me of how I feel whenever a new day starts, you know? So many things to do and look forward to! Sunsets are just… the end. But sunrises… they're always the beginning of something new!" The girl offered her thoughts to him and stretched, walking back over to the middle of the deck.

"Something new huh?" He had a funny feeling that the morning coming wasn't the only beginning of _something new_.

"Yup! Well, time to wake the others up. Want some breakfast?" She headed for the door, almost in a rush to get off the deck.

"Naw, I'm fine." Tidus couldn't take his eyes off of the sunrise, thinking of what she had said and how he felt. It became quiet again with only the serene crashing of waves against the hollow ship. All of a sudden, a growl escaped from Tidus' stomach. "Oh!" He held onto his stomach and placed a hand behind his head, blushing in embarrassment.

Rikku covered her mouth as she giggled happily. "Come on, I'll get some food for you. Al Bhed cuisine! You're lucky, ya know. I don't normally cook for strangers!"

"I thought we were friends!" He ran after the girl, chasing her into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry; I've never met you before!" Rikku joked in her laughter.

"You're really weird, Rikku!" Tidus reached out to grab her, trying to swat at the Al Bhed.

"Why are you following me into the ship? You creep!" She reached backwards, flailing her arms at Tidus to keep a distance between the two.

"What! Hey! Brother let me into the ship!"

"Then why didn't you sleep in it last night!"

"Cause I was talking to some annoying brat named Rikku!"

"Hey! That was just mean!" The chase was causing a ruckus; their rapid and hard footsteps echoed throughout the sleeping ship matching in loudness only with their laughter and banter. Finally, they both got in the kitchen and caught their breath.

"Nothing like an early morning run!" She smiled and immediately headed for the large storage room of ingredients. He watched her walk in with a grin on his face only to turn around to see Brother storming into the room.

"Fryd ec drec? Oui fuga ajanouha!" **What is this? You woke everyone! **Brother looked at the two and frowned. They were both still laughing and catching their breath.

"E's zicd ryjehk cusa vih, Brother." **I'm just having some fun, Brother. **Rikku rolled her eyes as she placed the items on the counter.

"Vih, rir?" **Fun, huh? **The Al Bhed crossed his arms and arched a brow, watching Tidus gripping his sides as his sister watched the blitzer and smiled.

"Kuut sunhehk!" **Good morning! **Tidus sure didn't know what they were saying but he greeted Brother anyway.

"Huh? Uh…" Tidus could have sworn that Brother gave him a smile but it was too brief and he had left immediately afterwards.

"Hey! You got him to leave! For that, I'll make you a BIG breakfast!" Rikku took a bunch of pans out and lit the stove.

"I never knew you could cook." He told Rikku under his breath. In minutes, the cold kitchen air was laced with the warm, sweet and foreign aromas of the Al Bhed cuisine Rikku was talking about earlier.

"Here! Try! Made out of the best stuff in the desert." Rikku placed a large plate of food in front of him. He really didn't know what all this was but he ate it anyway. The chef bit her lips, awaiting approval.

"Mmm! This is good! Much better than that stuff you gave me the past nights!" He dug into the dish but stopped when he realized how offensive that could have sounded. "I-I mean, that was good too but-!"

"I don't cook usually; Brother doesn't like it when I do." She sat by him with her own plate of food.

"Why? This is delicious!"

"I guess because of that time I almost burned the kitchen down?" Rikku looked at him innocently and laughed. Her smile quickly left her face though. "And… I guess because…"

Tidus stopped chewing and listened to her talk.

"It reminds him of mom's cooking. I found her recipe book in her room and cooked up a dish to cheer him up one time. He got kinda upset and didn't eat it at all." She recalled the event, poking at her food.

The blitzer swallowed his food without chewing and tried to talk. "Well, I'd eat this everyday if I could!"

"Maybe you will…" Rikku said it so he wouldn't hear and quickly finished her small plate of food.

"Oh man! I'm full! I couldn't eat another bite!" Tidus leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stretched stomach. "Okay, just one more bite!" He took his fork and swallowed a huge gulp of food.

"What a pig!" She joked, picking up her own dish and placing it into the sink.

"He- HICCUP!" Tidus practically fell off his chair from the huge hiccup he had. Rikku turned around and let out a small giggle before pouring him a cup of water.

"Come on. We've got lots of things to do later! We should get ready." She knocked on his arm with the back of her hand and left, expecting him to follow. And naturally, he did.

The next few hours were spent boxing any loose ammo or machina and getting ready for landing. Brother simply gave orders that day, trying not to pay much attention to the two. Officially that day, Tidus was to be Rikku's responsibility… and what a responsibility it was for a teenaged girl to look after a hunky Blitzball player. The two of them could recall a smirk on Brother's face as he paired them up. Rikku and Tidus' job was to look in the old storage room for any useful items.

"Man! I never knew how much old stuff we have in here!" She dove into another pile and came out with a couple of items in her hand. "We have stuff from before I was born!"

"What's this? A picture of you and your brother?" Tidus held up a slightly damaged photo.

"Lemme see." Rikku snatched the paper from his hand and stared at it. "Hm, I don't remember ever taking a picture with Brother…" She turned around to find something else and picked up a blue orb. "Whoa! Wonder how to turn this thing on!" Rikku held onto something that seemed to be a sphere, just a lot older. "It doesn't do anything..." She added as she began searching for a switch.

"Really?" Tidus shifted over to her and took the sphere. He shook it violently and accidentally pressed a hidden button. "Huh?" A small hologram appeared from the sphere and a voice was heard.

"Come on, Rikku. Lusa! Lusa!" **Come! Come! **A man dressed in Al Bhed clothing gestured for his daughter to walk to him. An older child was crouching by his father, watching the clumsy infant work her way across into the man's waiting arms.

"Hah! Is that your dad?" Tidus squinted his eyes to see the man in the faded background. "What's wrong with his hair?"

"Dad had hair?" Rikku tilted her head and took the sphere from his hands. "Wha? Is that… ME? Ugh! Why am I in that frilly yellow dress?"

Tidus fell over and broke out into a laughing fit.

"Stop it! I can't hear." She smacked the side of his arm and stared closer into the sphere. Her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her lips. "That's Brother! He looks like a little brat! Man! Who cut his hair?"

The serene voice of a woman called out to her daughter. "Fymg du tyt. Ku uh." **Walk to dad. Go on. **

"That's … mom." Rikku blinked and watched her younger self turn around and grab onto her mother's leg instead.

"Hehehe… Rikku…" The camera showed the woman's legs with the small girl clinging on, smiling. A hand extended down to touch the infant's hair.

The teenaged Al Bhed covered the hologram projector with her hand, pausing for a second to linger in the memory before turning off the sphere. She feigned a smile and turned back to the pile of items before her. "Well, that was fun. But we better get back to work…"

"Yea…" Tidus nodding, knowing not to ask about her mother for that might upset her. He rubbed his eyes, which were betting quite heavy at this point, and began yawning.

"Tired?" She yawned too and blinked wearily. Suddenly, she spotted something interesting. "Oh! I remember this." She held up a machina. "Pops used to tinker with this all the time; he never knew what it was for though. I think it's a weapon or something. I wonder if it still works… It's supposed to be like a thousand years old… lookie there! Almost as old as you are!"

"Let me have a look." Rikku showed it to him and instantly, he started to laugh. "It's just a hairdryer!" He took it and pointed it at Rikku, making sound effects. The girl cringed as the machina faced her. Tidus just couldn't stop his laughing after seeing the look on her face, as if the hairdryer could blow off her head. "Are you telling me that scary ol' Al Bhed Rikku doesn't know what a hair dryer is?"

"Gimme that. And I'm not old! Or scary!" She snatched the item angrily from his hand and stared at it blankly.

"Watch, it's a hair dryer, it blows out warm air to make your hair dry faster when it's wet." Tidus moved the machina in her hand to face her hair and began fanning her with his hand.

"Oh. See, I knew that." Rikku blushed, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I was just uh… testing you." She bit on her yellow-tinted fingernails, hoping he would believe her.

"Okay, that has got to be the oldest excuse in the book." He looked at her and shook his head.

"Psh, whatever…" She held it in her hand and examined it from every angle she could. "You had this in the Zanarkand?"

"Yea, people used it everyday." He said with another yawn, remembering how tired he was.

"Stop yawning, it'll make me-" Rikku closed her eyes and yawned as well, dropping the hairdryer onto the floor. "Tired…" She said with a drained voice.

"Can I take a nap?" Seeing Rikku so tired made him even more exhausted. He took a place behind a couple of crates and sat down, leaning against a box and closing his eyes.

"No way, Tidus. We have to get back to work…" She kicked at Tidus, trying to wake up him but he pretended to sleep and snored loudly. "That's really mature Tidus…" A smile grew on her face as she watched him snuggle against a box and fall asleep. "Acting like a little kid…? Wake up!" Watching him slumber beside her caused her to take a seat beside him and close her eyes as well. "Okay, we'll pretend to be kids for a little while… then… then… we… work…." After all, they hadn't slept at all last night after all the fighting and work they had done. Rikku yawned and moved closer to the blitzball player, barely leaning on him as they both fell fast asleep.

-

Okay, originally, I stopped after they were done eating but I decided that the chapters were too short. And now look at this mess. Its huge! –kicks it- so sorry if its really big. And hopefully you didn't get too bored. Tell me if you think I should slow down and write shorter chapters.


	6. Six

Okee. You guys are awesome! Thanks for the reviews, you know they really help! SERIOUSLY! Okay. Enjoy?

-

Rikku was the first to wake up, from the sound of heavy footsteps from above. Her smaller, petit body had regenerated enough energy for itself after a short nap and she felt ready for an entire day of work. Her companion, on the other hand seemed to have trouble waking up. She pushed and tugged on his arm but with no prevail. "Man, Tidus. You can really sleep." She spoke to him as he continued to sleep through the day.

She watched as he silently slept next to her, barely moving other than the steady rising and falling of his chest. A smile appeared on her face as she noticed how innocent he looked as he slept. From the moment she saw him, she had thought that he was something special. The past few days with him really helped support her idea of him. There was no doubt in her mind the she had a crush on him; she loved everything about him. Rikku really enjoyed spending so much time with someone other than the usual Al Bhed on her ship; Tidus brought something new to her life.

"Hm. Zanarkand… together… hn?" Tidus twitched in his spot, causing the Al Bhed to smile even brighter. She bit her lip in excitement. He must have been dreaming about her! In actuality, his dream _was _about her but of someone else as well. He stood on the foggy docks again, confused and out of place as ever. As he made his way to the end, he found himself inside of the same dream he had quite a while ago. He was standing by Yuna, who asked him to go to Zanarkand together while Rikku appeared and asked for the same thing, confusing him as to what to do.

"Yep! So you're coming with me!" Rikku's voice was in his head as he turned from Yuna and began following the other girl. In his sleep, he whispered out loud, "Huh?... Rikku…" As soft as it was, the Al Bhed was able to catch his words. She almost fell over as she heard him speak her name in his sleep. She sighed, blushing as she watched him continue to sleep.

"RIKKU!" Brother's voice beckoned through the speakers, interrupting Rikku's daydreaming. "Fa ryja ynnejat!" **We have arrived!**

"Hey! Tidus! Did you hear that? We're there!" She gave a gentle kick, causing him to roll over and stutter as he tried to wake himself up from his dream.

"To- Fa? Huh!" He stumbled to his feet, rubbing his head and eyes. He shook his body to wake himself up, throwing his dream away at the same time.

"You musta had some dream there, huh?" Rikku smirked, barely able to control herself as she thought of what he had done. Her question caused him to blush as he thought back to his dream.

"Uh… yea…" He fiddled with his hair and tried to cover his face, trying to figure out why he had the dream. He knew he followed Rikku after their short discussion on the docks but did he want to and what did it mean?

"Come on, sleepy head. We've got to go upstairs." Rikku removed Tidus' hands from his face and beamed, feeling so much bolder than before.

"Heh. Yea." He nodded as his face continued to redden. Just seeing Rikku's face caused him to feel warmer and a little bit uneasy. Why was he feeling like this all of a sudden, was it his dream? He quickly dismissed his thoughts and ran up the stairs with Rikku right in front of him.

"We're just going to help set up weapons and stuff for now, you ready for a day of work?" She joked; of course he wasn't ready. He was probably still sore from the game.

"Yeah! I'm up for anything!" Tidus threw a few punches in the air and nodded, making Rikku giggle.

"Okay! You asked for it! Start by unloading those boxes of ammo, and then help Brother set up the cannon over there." Rikku pointed at the boxes on the deck and then the cliff above their ship.

"Huh? ... Uh… Okay." His face quickly darkened as he ran towards the boxes and took one in his arms, readying himself for the heavy lifting. Tidus struggled as he picked the box off the floor and inched his way off the ship and towards the other boxes that had already been unloaded. "What did I get myself into…" Rikku watched as he hobbled across the deck with the box of equipment and smiled at how hard he had been working. Simply watching him caused her heart to pound and butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

More work followed Tidus as he continued to finish his tasks as quickly as he could. Although he was sure he had proved himself in the blitzball game, he wanted to show the Al Bhed that he wanted to be full accepted by them. At the same time, he also wanted to impress Rikku and show how much he cared about her cause. After spending so much time getting to really know Rikku, he felt a certain connection between them. Whether it was simply friendship or something more complex, he didn't know but it was clear that he liked it.

Even with his enthusiasm, he couldn't keep the thought of his past from his head. Pictures and memories of dying soldiers flooded his mind as he peered at the beach before him. The equipment was starting to come together and everything was running as it did before. He bit his lip as he tried not to think of the tragedy that would come with this only to realize just how hard it was for him to sit and watch all the soldiers sacrifice themselves for a lost cause.

He felt an urge to talk to Rikku again, so that he could at least save most of the people who would die when Sin comes. He hadn't seen Rikku all day and the day was quickly turning to night after his long hours of labor. His muscles were sore and his body was covered in sand, dirt and sweat. The entire operation was really coming together by the time Brother ordered the men to retreat to the camp they had set up near their ultimate weapon.

"Rikku?" Tidus peeked into a few empty tents. "… Where are you?"

"Missin' me already?" Rikku tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump as she asked. He turned to see her clad in another armor, quite foreign to his eyes. It fit comfortably around her, showing off her curves without being immodest. It was similar to her old armor but more flexible for better movement.

"No wonder I couldn't recognize you!" He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I've got to talk to you." A blush burned against her cheeks as she smiled from his touch.

"Yea? About what?" She turned, leading him to a larger tent: the control center of the Al Bhed.

"About this operation." He answered as he was gestured to enter the tent with her. "I just don-"

"Isn't it exciting? Finally! We'll be able to show those Yevonites what we're made of! We'll defeat Sin, and then maybe they won't hate us anymore, you know?" She hopped breathlessly and twirled in her excitement.

"Uh…" His words were quickly crushed by her actions. He couldn't shoot her down when she was standing so tall but he just had to. "Well… what if it doesn't work?"

"Stop saying that, Tidus. We have to believe that it will work!" Rikku quickly stopped her festivities and sighed seriously. "I think you're taking your dream way too seriously. We've got some really high-quality machina here. Plus, the Crusaders are going to stun Sin so we can just finish it off with our cannon. It'll kill Sin and the people of Spira will be united again!" She nodded and closed her eyes, imagining what that would be like.

"But… don't you think we might fail? And then…" He hesitating, trying not to sound cruel or discouraging.

"Come on. You're so gloomy. Have some hope in us. We can do this! You said you would take on Sin with me! Don't back down on me now!" She said, sounding a little bit more annoyed. She was trying to promote her spirit and make everyone believe that this was going to work and she didn't appreciate how pessimistic Tidus was being.

"But you don't get it. Remember how I said I had a crazy dream about fighting Sin in another journey?" Tidus tried to explain. "I'm almost positive it wasn't a dream. I mean… everything that happened in that dream is happening now. It's just me that's different. Instead of traveling with your cousin, Yuna, I'm with you! And I remember a lot of people dying here."

"Tidus, you're not still sick from the toxin, are you?" She frowned and poked him on the head, not believing what he said. "Stop acting all weird, okay?"

"But… er…" He tightened a fist; he was getting pretty aggravated as well. "Yuna has brown hair and her eyes are different colors; green and blue… She's two years older than you and your father's sister was her mom. Lord Braska was her father, and he defeated Sin before so she's trying to follow in his footsteps." He listed most of what he knew to make her believe him. Tidus didn't want to resort to this, but he had no other choice.

"Wha-… How'd you know all that?"

"I-I told you. I wasn't dreaming." He concluded and sighed as he moved away from her.

"But that doesn't prove anything. Just because the people died in your dream… doesn't mean it'll happen tomorrow. I'll make sure of it." Rikku nodded stubbornly. She didn't want to give up hope that this was going to work, no matter what he said.

"Stop being so… you! If you're going to be a good leader, you have to know what's good for your people. What if everyone dies tomorrow!" He was officially angered to the point where things began to shoot out of his mouth without traveling to his brain first.

"What's wrong with me being me? I am a good leader! I know that this will help people accept the Al Bhed! And I'm going to make sure no one but Sin dies tomorrow!" She shot back, annoyed and offended. Rikku had never known he could speak to her like this; it was hurtful for her to see him yell at her. Everything she had thought he was seemed to be a foolish lie to her now.

"But that's stupid! Everyone is going to die! And then they'll blame the Al Bhed. Do you want that? To have everyone hate you guys even more than they do now!" Tidus screamed, infuriated and stubborn. He knew this was for her own good but he hadn't realized just how hurtful it had sounded.

"I'm sick of talking to you, Tidus! Everything you say is 'but this' and 'but that'! Can't you just let things go?" Rikku advanced towards him. "Get out! I don't want to talk to you ever again! Don't you care about how I feel? You ruined everything and took away the hope! I hope you're happy!" She pushed him out of the tent and screamed, stomping her feet against the ground as she ran towards the table and collapsed on the seat. Her heart was beating painfully and angry tears were stinging her eyes. Her emotions were a blur to her. She was disappointed, angry, confused, sad and frustrated all at the same time.

Tidus was no better; as he picked himself from the ground he threw a fist at the floor and gritted his teeth. He was so annoyed and angry about how stubborn she was and ignorant she sounded. "So stupid!" He screamed at her from outside the tent and ran to the beach to relieve his frustration. As his mind finally cleared, another emotion took over; guilt. He was out of line to tell her what to do and to take her optimism and hope only to throw them on the ground and step on them.

"Hope… it's really the only thing we have these days, huh?" He remembered himself saying that, he had just contradicted himself and make himself look like a total hypocrite. "…And I said I would fight with her…" He reminded himself as he threw his body against the cool sand on the floor. "…what now?" Tidus sighed in disappointment. What will happen to the people tomorrow? Could he still stop it?

Thoughts of guilt, anger, and gloom occupied the night for the two as they rolled in their slumber, thinking of the day awaiting them. Tidus could barely sleep as memories of Operation Mi'ihen filled his dreams. Rikku laid pensively on her bed for most of the night, unable to get Tidus' words from her mind. It was a night of anticipation, the anticipation of both hope and disappointment.

Morning came with the sound of hundreds of Crusaders marching in with their own machina along with large carts of Sinspawn. The two of them almost didn't want this day to come. As they worked to finalize everything, Rikku and Tidus passed each other several times but refused to talk to each other. Brother, along with a number of other members of the ship noticed this and shrugged, thinking it was just the serious atmosphere of the operation.

On his way towards the command center, Tidus found Gatta and Luzzu arguing in front of the entrance.

"Why only you, sir? I want to fight, too!" Gatta asked after getting orders from his commander.

"Orders are orders." Luzzu answered bluntly.

"I'm not a cadet anymore, sir! Let me go with you, and I'll prove it to them!" The soldier requested again.

"Guarding the command center is important too, you know."

"But I came all the way from Besaid to fight Sin, sir!"

Tidus reminded himself of how Luzzu died in battle, leaving Gatta confused and disturbed on the beach. He had to save people from dying, so he started small. "Actually…" He directed to them, clearing his throat to sound more intimidating as he placed his goggle in front of his eyes. "I just got an order to tell you that both of you are to guard the command center."

"Impossible, I was just ordered to fight in the battle while Gatta stayed to guard the command center." Luzzu looked Tidus up and down, he didn't trust the young man.

"I just received orders from the Maester. He asked you not to question his actions." Tidus lied through his teeth while adjusting his goggles.

"Oh yeah? … Uh…" Luzzu scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I guess… See, Gatta. We must guard this command center with our lives. It is an important job that we both will do!" This gave Tidus relief, leaving a smile on his face as he walked away from the two. He knew that he had at least saved one person from death.

"Why did they assign both of us to protect the command center? Do they think I'm not good enough to do it alone now?" Gatta continued to complain to Luzzu as a group of people arrived.

"Hey, at least you won't get hurt, ya?" Wakka was leading the group towards the two crusaders.

"Wakka…" Tidus whispered under his breath as he turned to spy on the group of familiar faces. Lulu, Kimahri, Auron, Yuna and Wakka were looking extremely tired and beaten from their travel; Tidus had never known how much he had helped the entourage until seeing them that day. Careful not to overreact, he decided not to confront them and instead left to help the Al Bhed. Lingering only for a moment to sigh at the memories of his past 'dream', he stole a glimpse of Yuna and ran off to find Brother.

Emotions were not an object for him as he made his way towards the Al Bhed camp; he didn't even feel anything when he saw Yuna's face. Could his new life have numbed him to the point where he has lost all feelings for his past friends? Or perhaps he had already accepted that he had no need for them? Maybe it was just the lack of contact that caused his feelings to fade. Whatever it was, it was strange for him to see something so familiar and yet feel so distant.

Tidus shook his head, determined to clear it from his confusing thoughts and settled on focusing on the issue at hand: Operation Mi'ihen. He had already accepted that he couldn't possibly save everyone and the death was inevitable. Even if Rikku had believed him and tried to stop the operation, she couldn't have been able to save everyone anyway. The Crusaders and Al Bhed had their own beliefs and no one could change them. Tidus remembered speaking to several young Crusaders in his old dream and realized how determined they were. Ignorantly determined.

The sound of roaring Sinspawn was enough for Tidus' stomach to start churning; it signified the beginning of the operation. He knew that Yuna and her party would need some help with fighting Sinspawn Gui but he had committed himself to the Al Bhed. There was no point in lingering in the past when there was a future to take care of.

"Alright, time to fight my old man… again." Tidus whispered to himself as he made his way into the large cannon mounted on the cliff above the water.

"Oui yna hud haatat rana. Fa femm ubanyda dra machina, ajanouha amca femm ramb dra Crusaders." **You are not needed here. We will operate the machina, everyone else will help the Crusaders. **An older Al Bhed told Tidus, not knowing that the blitzer had no idea what he was saying.

"He means you're going to help the Crusaders in battle." A man's voice explained to Tidus.

"Rin?" He turned to see the tall Al Bhed before him. "What are you doing here?"

"Am I that well known? Well, I am here to deliver a few items to my fellow Al Bhed. I see you're not familiar with the language?"

"Right. I'm just… uh…" Tidus removed his goggles to show his aqua eyes. "I'm not Al Bhed."

"You're not a spy are you?" Rin retreated, eyeing him.

"No. I'm working for the Al Bhed. I just don't know the language."

"Well, if you're interested. I can give you a few Al Bhed Primers. Al Bhed Primers are scattered through out Spira, so if you wish to learn, you should try finding them. Here are a few that I have." Rin reached into his bag and handed Tidus a few books. "Kuut milg… it means Good luck."

"Thanks!" Tidus smiled, holding the books in front of him.

"This is a very honorable thing you are doing." The Al Bhed looked around, noting all the hard work everyone had done. "Risking everything for the people of Spira. I commend you… but I must go back to the Inn. Good luck with your battle and if all is well, please visit one of our many Inns scattered through out Spira. Maybe I'll have a few more Al Bhed Primers for you then." The man turned, giving Tidus a nod before running down the road back to his Inn.

What Rin had said to him cause Tidus to feel even guiltier… and maybe a bit more enraged. He knew it was a practical idea for the people to think they could defeat Sin and it made sense for them to have so much hope. But at the same time, Tidus felt the ignorance radiating from them. They knew that there was a large possibility it would fail but they had to keep their optimism; it was all they had left, even if most of it was fake.

Once again, he began to think of Rikku's beliefs and how he could have truly crushed her confidence in this operation. He sighed, knowing he shouldn't have spoken to her in such a way. He was determined to find Rikku and apologize for his actions when suddenly, all thoughts were set aside as shouts and commands echoed through the beach. Crusaders were to take their positions as the Sinspawn were released. The few Al Bhed operators ran into their large machina, ready for battle as the others took their own weapons and waited.

"Sin!" The numerous voices called as a shadowed loomed over the ocean and sand. A gigantic body rose from the depths of the ocean and revealed itself as Sin. Tidus could feel the blood pulsing as he stared at the monster, a familiar and painful sight. The Crusaders began to shoot their cannons as the Chocobo riders gave commands; foot soldiers ran towards the water. The sounds were vibrating through out the area; shouts, growls, shooting, explosions and the horrible screams of dying soldiers. The Al Bhed waited as they began to load their ultimate machina, the one that was said to kill Sin. The operation had started.

-

Jeez, that was a long one! Rushed? –shrugs- I started bsing halfway through lol. ' How did I manage to write so much for nuthin'? Lol. my friend seemed to like it though.


	7. Seven

Sorry for the delays recently. I'm actually typing these up day by day because I really don't any more time anymore. What with studying for SATs (my parents want me to start early... really early.), going to Cross Country practice, along with my horrible drama with my friends; I'm not exactly free for the entire day to type away. But I try, and your comments/reviews make me all the more motivated to make time for me to write. Okay number 7. Uh… Twist? Lol. I don't think I'm very good at Twister. Not too flexible. WHOA! Enjoy?

-

Memories joined with actions as he heard the screams and saw the corpses of soldiers killed in battle. Tidus had no time to think anymore as he was pushed into battle as well, given a sword and a thin shield. He could see the determination in the eyes of everyone as fiends fell from Sin's massive body from the cannons' attacks. They were determined to fight and determined to win. He heard commands in both languages thrown into the air, hoping all would catch them and follow. From behind him, he could have sworn hearing Rikku and Brother's voices ordering their men to attack.

Tidus inhaled sharply and charged into battle, making sure the Sinspawn would not attack the Al Bhed's weapon until it was able to shoot Sin. No matter how he felt and what he thought, he had no choice but fight. Fight for Spira; fight for the Al Bhed, the Crusaders… and to fight for a chance to apologize to Rikku.

Before he knew it, an energy barrier began to form around Sin, blocking all attacks from the machina. The Al Bhed readied their attack and shot, piercing into the barrier, only to have the shield expand and move towards them. The energy ray from the machina intensified and advanced even further, pushing the shield back at Sin. There was an explosion, an explosion loud enough to wake all the children of Spira.

"They did it…" Tidus gasped and watched as the large body of water engulfed the dark body back into the depths of the ocean. Sin didn't seem to move as it sunk to the bottom. The heavy waves crashed into the shore as the falling body caused the ocean to quiver. "…Amazing…" His past dream meant nothing to him now; everything that had just happened contradicted his entire journey. He turned to the ground of men behind him as everyone cheered and shouted in glee.

"WE DID IT!" Several crusaders shouted as they dropped their weapons, almost falling to their knees in disbelief.

Realization stuck him as he soaked up everything that had happened; this was his chance to apologize. "Rikku…" He whispered as he ran to find her, ducking and dodging the celebrating fighters. There she was, laughing and hollering with her brother, dressed in her orange armor. "Rikku!" Tidus took a step forward, and as if it were a trigger, the floor began to shake. The festivities stopped as a larger shadow loomed over the entire beach. "Huh?" He turned to see that Sin had risen again, larger than ever.

"Impossible!" A soldier commented as his comrades ran back to their stations, taking hold of their weapons. But it was too late; the crusaders were not ready for such a surprise. Tidus' eyes met with the Crusaders on the beach as Sin launched a strong attack, much like the one before. A bigger field formed around it, strong enough to move the waters beneath it. The Al Bhed ran back to their operation room as others decided to flee. Their machina had used up all its powers and it was futile to try and charge again.

Some were stubborn, throwing their fists against the keys and fiddling with the trigger. The machina whined, trying hard to comply with its operator's demands. As if it were to taunt the warriors, the barrier inched towards the shore with the ocean behind it. Tidus had never seen or hoped to see this happen. The field finally threw itself at the crusaders, disintegrating everything in its path. Others began to run, escaping with nothing but the clothes on their back. The barrier met with the Al Bhed's machina, causing the large cannon to explode.

Eyes widened as Sin's attack wiped every speck of hope from their hearts and left them with nothing but defeat and corpses. The floor rumbled and the energy from the hit caused everyone to fall to the floor as Sin retreated into the water and left, as if nothing happened. The last thing Tidus could remember was the soft humming in his ears as his vision began to fail, along with his arms and legs. In his dazed state, he could see Rikku running and falling, motionless on her back. He could only think of one thing; whether Rikku was still alive and if he could ever have the chance to apologize to her again. He knew this feeling too well, having to do this in his past dream. "Rikku…" A name escaped from his mouth as he was hit and left unconscious on the floor.

-

"Ugh…" Tidus felt his body resting heavily against the cold ground. His legs were weak and his arms were barely able to pick himself up. Each breath was like a stab to his chest as he slowly caught his ground and stood up. The sky was slightly darker than usual and the air was thick with smoke and falling debris. The beautiful ocean was now tainted with the remains of human bodies, blood, broken machina and shattered weapons of the soldiers. The water was as dark and thick as the smoke coming from the open fires scattered around the beach. "How long was I out?" He asked himself wearily as his vision began to clear. His entire body was in pain, he had suffered a worst injury than he had the first time he was here.

Suddenly, his attention turned to the blonde girl kneeling by a stiff corpse. "Rikku?" A soft hit struck his heart as he saw her; she was still alive. He gathered the last of his energy and painfully ran to her, stopping as he saw her bring a hand to her face. "Hey…" He whispered softly as he hesitantly placed a hand on her. She looked so fragile, so small… He felt as if a single touch from him would cause her to shatter before him.

"…" Rikku remained silent as she shook and shivered violently. "…I…" She managed to whisper as she turned slowly, almost unable to move. His eyes closed for a moment as he saw her tearstained face, darkened further with a heavy frown.

"Rikku… are you okay?" He placed both of his hands on her shoulders, watching her continue to shake. She breathed deeply, hoping to calm herself. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head and bit her lip, trying not to look at him.

"Tidus…" Her mind had wanted her to stand but her legs didn't have the strength. They gave in and she fell forward.

"Rikk-…" He caught her arms and brought her to her feet, placing her to look straight at him.

"E-Everyone…" She stumbled through her words, as if she were drugged. "They're… Dead…"

Tidus didn't know what to do and continued to watch hopelessly as the usually spunky and cheerful girl sobbed solemnly before him. "Rikku…" He finally pulled himself closer and let her fall into his soothing embrace.

"I can't even find Brother!" Rikku bitterly choked into his vest. He could feel her trembling lessen in his hold as he began to stroke her hair. "I'm sorry, Tidus…"

"Don't be… I-It's not your fault." He couldn't stand hearing and seeing her this way, every moment seemed to crush him even further. It was almost frightening for him to feel this way. He held her closer and hoped she would begin to feel better.

"It is. You told me to stop it, and I didn't… G-Go ahead… Tell me… Tell me that you told me so... It's all my fault anyway…" Her shaking started to intensify as she buried her face further into his chest. His heart skipped a beat as he thought of what she said, feeling her wet tears soaking through to his skin. She wouldn't have felt this horrible if he hadn't said anything,_ this_ was all his fault.

"No. No one could have stopped this. They would have gone on with the operation even if you did try to stop it." He felt her breathing quicken as she tightened her grip on him, speechless. A lump began to form in his throat as his body ached even more from watching Rikku so overwhelmed with grief. "I'm sorry for blaming you. This isn't your fault. I'm sorry… I really am." He spoke painfully as he rested his chin against her quivering shoulder to steady both of their unstable bodies.

Rikku sighed and nodded as her body stopped its trembling. "But… I could have…" She began again, taking her head off his shoulder to look at him.

"No." Tidus released his hold and stood back, keeping his hands on her shoulders to keep her still. He watched her wipe the tears and dirt from her face as they both began to calm down. "We'll find Brother, don't worry." He whispered his comforting words, not sure if he could believe them himself. She stayed silent and only nodded as he struggled to arch a smile for her. _In dark times, she must be. She must shine bright. _Tidus remembered Kimahri saying that to him after seeing Yuna smile even after such a tragic incident. Now it was his turn to smile… for Rikku. "Have hope..."

Rikku took his words to heart and tried to match the smile on his face with one of her own. "Thank you." She sincerely whispered as she drew herself from him and began to stumble towards the beach, her eyes wandering from corpse to corpse. A cold sensation swept over his body as soon as she removed herself from his hold. A strange feeling overcame him, almost possessing his thoughts. The could barely grasp the feeling with his thoughts as it left him as quickly as it had came.

"…Brother?" She tried to scream but nothing but a whisper escaped from her lips as she staggered across the beach.

"Do you need help? You can barely walk." He followed her, staying close in case she were to fall again. Rikku could barely hear him as she knelt by several men, checking for any signs of life. Tidus remembered himself in the same situation, walking to corpses only able to hope that their deaths were quick and painless. It was one of the worst things that he had ever seen and done; he couldn't imagine how much worst it must have been for Rikku. "I wonder if Luzzu and Gatta got out alright…" He whispered to himself, only to be interrupted by slow and heavy footsteps behind him. "Hm?" It was almost like it was rehearsed; a perfectly timed moment in a soap opera.

"Brother!" Rikku turned with a sudden smile on her face. She ran past Tidus and almost threw herself on her brother, hugging him tightly. She thought she had lost him, and to Sin. How horrible it would have been if he had died and she could have prevented it… She couldn't afford losing another family member, especially on her quest to protect all the summoners.

"Rikku!" Brother winced from her strong hold and chuckled as she jumped onto her feet and stood back. "Oui yna ymnekrd?" **You are alright? **He asked as he inspected both of them for injuries. Tidus had never seen Brother so compassionate before. He had always thought that the older man was made of steel and scary as anything. Rikku nodded, answering for both of them. Brother closed his eyes and nodded contently, with a small grin on his face. "E ys kmyt." **I am glad.**

It took Rikku almost another minute for her to ask, "F-Frana ec ajanouha amca?" **W-Where is everyone else? **She was hoping that the majority of the men were on the ship, perfectly safe and well.

"Fa yna milgo... Sucd uv ic yna cyva. Fa yna fyedehk eh dra lysb. Uin creb fyc fnalgat eh pyddma." **We are lucky… Most of us are safe. We are waiting in the camp. Our ship was wrecked in battle.** Tidus could see the relief on Rikku's face as Brother confirmed that the Al Bhed were mostly alive.

"Yht dra cissuhanc?" **And the summoners? **During battle, the Al Bhed had sighted two summoners and their entourage around the area. Rikku had a feeling that one of them had to be Yuna.

"Fa ryjah'd lralgat... E's cina drao ryja ymnayto mavd." **We haven't checked... I'm sure they have already left. **Brother answered her and turned to a couple of voices behind him. The beach that seemed so barren and full of disaster was beginning to fill with new life and hope. As the thick smoke continued to slowly fade, they could see the group of men who had escaped their untimely deaths. There weren't many of them but there were more than Tidus had expected to see. Perhaps Rikku's encouraged attitude made the men work harder and maybe because they worked harder, less of them had died? Nevertheless, Tidus knew that what had happened today was different from what had happened in his other dream. Sin had appeared to have been defeated by the energy ray that shot through its barrier, the barrier that was supposed to completely block and shatter everything that attacked it. Maybe she did save some of them after all. It wasn't much… but it was something, right?

Rikku sighed pensively and before Tidus knew it, she had gestured for him to return to the docks. It was a complete mess. Several tears and holes covered the ships like mighty scars on a warrior. They were large enough to fit a couple of chocobos in with ease. This was going to be hard to clean up but they weren't ready to give up. Every man contributed to rebuild their ship and continue with their mission. Even the ones that were sick and injured tried to help in some way. The sight of so much cooperation and hope helped both Tidus and Rikku find a small bit of hope in their hearts as well. It taught both of them that this was not a time to sulk and grieve, but a time to smile and continue.

"Tidus… I think you should change your clothes…" Rikku commented as she tugged on a hole in his tight vest. His exposed flesh tingled from the warm touch of her hand, causing goosebumps to show. He brushed off the sensation and nodded as his cheeks burned with confusion and embarrassment.

He grunted in agreement and began to run towards the entrance of the ship, not knowing where he was going. Rikku grinned and shook her head; he was just so confused. Rikku caught a passing Al Bhed and gave him an order. "Bmayca pnehk res y cied uv ynsun." **Please bring him a suit of armor. **The Al Bhed nodded at his commander and brought Tidus into the ship.

"Brother, cruimt fa luhdehia uin secceuh?" **Brother, should we continue our mission? **She turned back to her sibling and asked. He nodded, confused why she would even need to ask. "Ajah yvdan... drec?" **Even after… this?**

"Fa hajan keja ib!" **We never give up!** Brother smiled encouragingly at his younger sister as he struck a pose. Rikku smiled in return as she nodded at his words.

"Ed ech'd tysykat?" **It isn't damaged? **

"Hu…" **No…** Brother watched Rikku's head bow as he spoke. She pensively watched her boots, finally looking up when he began speaking again. "E femm caht uid uha uv uin sah ev oui tuh'd fyhd du tu drec..." **I will send out one of our men if you don't want to do this... **

"Hu, E fyhd du ku... vun Yuna. Fuimt oui seht ed ev... E dyga cusauha fedr sa?" **No, I want to go... for Yuna. Would you mind it if... I take someone with me?**

"Fru? …Tidus?" **Who? …Tidus? **Brother questioned and as he found Rikku nodding in return, he grimaced for a moment.

"Fryd? …Oui tuh'd dnicd res?" **What?** **…You don't trust him? **She asked with a worry look on her face. Rikku's expression turned to confusion as he began to chuckle. "FRYD! FRYD!" **WHAT! WHAT!**

"Hudrehk. Hudrehk..." **Nothing. Nothing… **Brother waved a hand in front of her face to banish the crazed look on her face as she stood on her tip toes, trying to figure out his humor. "E drehg... E tuh'd dnicd oui suna!" **I think… I don't trust you more! **Rikku took a step back to understand his joke but it didn't make much sense… unless he meant …

"Fryd!" **What! **She rubbed the side of her face as her cheeks burned. Rikku hopped next to him and began beating her brother's shoulder as he shielded and laughed. It was almost amazing how they could be so lighthearted when everything around them seemed to be in shambles but the two had a way of doing that. Brother always knew to keep Rikku strong and proud in situations like this, and although laughing may make her seem indifferent of the tragedy, it was better than having her mope around.

"Rikku?" Tidus called her as he ran out of the ship's entrance. "This feels weird… was I supposed to wear clothes under this? Because the guy told me to wear my old clothes under this… or at least that's what I think he told me…" He asked her, tugging at the sides of his clothing as he rambled on about the clothes. Brother saw the excitement in Rikku's face as she turned to look at Tidus. Almost contradicting his usually behavior around Tidus, Brother let out a laugh and inched away from the two.

"Hm. Not bad…" Rikku eyed him up and down with a finger rested on her chin, forgetting everything about Brother and everything around her. She noticed how the armor was able to highlight every beautifully toned muscle on his upper body and how tightly it hugged against his skin. It reminded her of her own armor, only for the male body. The armor shined lightly in the damp day, yet its color was still able to remain neutral. The dark blue was daring enough to even compliment his eyes like the sea with the night sky. "Oh…It even matches your eyes!" She gave him a pat on the shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Uh… y-ya think?" Tidus peered down at the armor… how embarrassing it was for the clothing to hug every corner of him and still have such large plates around the most embarrassing areas. "It kinda feels uncomfortable." Not to mention, this thing was tighter than the vest that they had given him before and was just about to squeeze his lungs from his nostrils.

"Hm, I guess it is a little tight. There's something called a strap, you know…" Rikku walked behind him and began toying with the straps wrapped around his arms, back and shoulders. He held his breath as she managed to touch every sensitive area on his upper body. There was just _no way_ he was able to keep still and comfortable while a teenaged girl was fixing his clothing, running her hands and fingertips against his body. "There…"

She stood back at her masterpiece as the armor released him from its deadly grasp. It was so comfortable, resting on his chest just enough for it to give him warmth without crushing every organ inside him. Tidus touched his belt; it too needed a fixing. Once he realized what he might have been implying, he threw his arms to his sides and nodded. "It's …uh… perfect!"

"Ha… I don't know why I didn't give you this sooner…" Rikku thought back to the night she was supposed to give him his own suit of armor, one that would match hers in color and style, when she realized that it was because of their fight. Her smile quickly faded as she began to blush from bringing that stupid fight back to her memories. "Heh…" She scratched the side of her face with her finger when Brother was heard snickering at her and Tidus. Her eyes bulged at the sight of her brother mocking her with his laughter. "HEY!"

"What happened?" Tidus questioned as he finally managed to figure out how to work the straps on his lower body.

"Nothing. We're going on another mission." Rikku gave Brother a threatening face as she took Tidus by his gloved hand and pulled him aside to the waters.

"Another one? Don't we get any rest?" He rubbed his sore shoulders; he had just started to feel a little bit relaxed.

"Sorry. But we know that Summoner Yuna is going to Djose and she'll be on her way across Moonflow soon. Then, while she's riding the shoopuf, we'll snatch her off and save her. What do you think?" Rikku offered the plan to him, hoping he would join her.

"Summoner Yuna, huh?" Tidus questioned just how she was doing at this point. With a man short, her group might have been suffering harsher and longer battles. His attention then drew to the fact that he was actually going to be able to see her again. _Yuna…_ His head burned from the thought of seeing her again. What would his reaction be? What would she say? Would anything be the same? Would he want it to be? How would he feel? Would he feel anything at all? Questions upon questions ran through his head until he finally reached a machina resting in the water. "W-Whats this?

"We call it the Extractor…" Rikku patted the hollow metal shell proudly as she threw on her goggles and opened the latch. A hissing sound escaped from the monstrous machina as if it were sighing after holding in a long breath. "All aboard!" She hopped in, manning the controls in the front. Judging from the size of the machina, this device was not designed to hold more than a couple of people. Tidus bit his lip as he entered the cold submarine, somewhat ashamed to be inside of the fiend he had to fight with Wakka in his former dream. "Something wrong?" Rikku could see the uncertainty as he took his seat by her.

"Nothing." He sighed as he breathed in the smell of oil, rusty metal and the familiar aroma of his companion. It was amazing, before he had landed in this dream, Rikku would be setting off alone in this machina. But today, he would be a part of the conquest to capture Yuna. He had possibly influenced Rikku enough to slightly change the outcome of Operation Mi'ihen and he had won the Blitzball Tournament for the Al Bhed Psyches… It was an incredible feeling to know that the singularity of his existence seemed to affect almost everything he came in touch with. Without a doubt, things will change with every different turn he takes.

-

Uh… what was that? –pokes it- a filler? … Buttery Cream? Load of fat with no benefit… Gomen… -dies- I think I missed a lot of big points there, but pushaw. I'm going to camp, so I won't have time to write for a week. –Everyone gasps and then leaves- Did you guys realize that what you just read was over 3955 words? Whoa... lol


	8. Eight

Did you notice that RTY are next to each other on the keyboard! Lol… how coincidental. I'm sorry I haven't updated in more than a month. I would never want to do this to you guys. I had school. But before that, I had to go to Cross Country practice (yes, in the summer)… It was everyday for like 5 hours, and then I'd just collapse onto my bed after I showered and sleep til I have to go to the next practice. UGH. But yeah, I'm finally learning to balance my time so… -nods- (I have Cross Country every single day! UGH Then I have all Honors classes on top of that, so I have a lot of homework) Chappy 8 already, eh? Enjoy?

-

"Sure you're okay?" Rikku asked from her seat, not quite sure why he was so silent. He was just sitting there, watching as they submerged into the deep water and swam past the sinking debris in the water. This was going to be an extremely long and silent ride if Tidus didn't start talking.

"Huh? ... Yea." Tidus had been completely engulfed in his own thoughts.

"You must be wiped out, huh?" She took a deep breath as she gripped the steering wheel, trying to start any kind of conversation.

Until this point, Tidus hadn't really realized just how beat up he was. Sure, he was dressed in new and comfortable clothing but his body was just as beat up as his old Al Bhed uniform. The series of events that had happened was taking a major toll on his body. Getting beat up in two blitzball games, working his hands to the bone and fighting Sin in a period of just a few days was too much for his body to take. Every bone and muscle in his body ached.

"I guess." He shifted in his seat to find a better position but this was extremely hard with every part of his body bruised and hurt.

"You can take a nap or something… it's going to take a while to get to Moonflow…" She flashed him a tired grin as she pulled levers and pressed buttons. He noticed how just as tired and hurt she was. Tidus could feel a grin grow on his face as he noticed how strong she could be even after everything; he could barely believe that she was younger than him.

"It's okay." He beamed at her, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've got to keep you awake too, right?" A soft giggle was her response, followed by silence. It wasn't exactly the most carefree moment in time for the both of them. They had just suffered a terrible tragedy, and even thought both of them felt like collapsing and sleeping for days, they have another mission to complete. Rikku peered over to find Tidus looking into the controls blankly.

"So when are you gonna tell me about your dream?" Rikku asked out of the blue; he could see she had been keeping it in for a while. "You keep on telling me little parts of it, and I don't get any of it." She sighed, taking her hands off of the wheel.

"Uh…" He wasn't too sure whether he should tell her everything or continue to pretend that he was sick from Sin's toxin. "Just, you know… we beat Sin, that's all."

"So… what about 'everyone else'? …" Rikku turned to watch his confused expression, setting the machina on autopilot. "You said that I must know where everyone else is… it was the first thing you said when I found you." She explained herself.

"Everyone else?" Tidus tried to shut the image from his mind… Yuna, Wakka, Auron, Lulu, and Kimhari. He had wanted to never speak of them again, to move on and live his life. But memories flooded his mind no matter what and he couldn't start his story without telling her anything about the travel company. "Uh… we were traveling with Yuna and her guardians."

"Eh? We?"

"You were there too." He nodded stiffly.

"Me!" Rikku spun in her chair to face him, pointing a finger at herself. He nodded in return. "Yea right, that's too weird."

_One moment she's all ears and the next she's acting like I'm sick or something... _Tidus sighed; almost ready to give up when his challenging spirit rose above his hesitance towards his past dream."Wanna bet?" Tidus moved his chair to face her as he cocked his head.

"Alright, tell me something you learned about me during your dream." She leaned into her seat and threw her hands behind her head, waiting for his response. For a second, he stopped; he couldn't really say much about Rikku. He hadn't spent much time with her to learn anything other than a few simple facts. Her eyes widened as she watched him struggle, causing her to giggle.

"Alright. Alright! I got it!" He sat upright and cleared his throat. "You're afraid of lightning and thunder!" Rikku bounced back and threw a finger on her chin to think of a comeback.

"Y-Yea? Well… Bet you don't know why." She was determined to prove him wrong. There was just no way he could have had such an accurate dream.

He took a deep breath as he ran over the memory in his head. "…When you were little, you were swimming at the beach and a fiend attacked you. Your brother tried to cast a thunder spell on it but hit you instead!" Tidus recited it exactly as she said it. She fell limp in her seat, her jaw hitting the floor.

"H-How'd you know that?" Rikku arched a brow, unable to believe what she had heard.

"Need more proof?" Tidus grinned, enjoying how hopelessly confused she was. She quickly shook her head in return.

"N-No more! I believe you!" Rikku turned back to the controls, making sure the autopilot was going the right way before she began again. "So… in this… 'dream'… how did we kill Sin?" Now she was really interested in what he said; maybe he wasn't crazy after all!

"We'll… It's really a long story…" He warned her but she didn't give a response, signaling him to start. He paused again, not sure if he wanted to dig up what he had wanted to throw away. Rikku stared at him attentively, ready for him to start. Tidus took a deep breath, letting it out rapidly as he finally gave in. He began to tell her everything from Zanarkand to the final showdown with Sin… skipping over a few details that is. He wasn't sure if he wanted to include anything about his relationship with Yuna. He had a feeling it was best if he left those parts out. Nonetheless, words poured out rapidly but never stumbled over each other; he had been keeping his story to himself for quite a while. It was freeing to finally speak his mind and tell her about his past life.

But as he neared the end of his story, he couldn't end it. Telling her that he threw himself off of a ship and returned back to Spira would sound pretty ridiculous to anyone right now. Yet, he hadn't spoken anything about being a dream of the Fayth. All along, he had been saying that he was _in _a dream, not about how he _was_ a dream. There was just no way she would believe him if he started explaining now.

All the while, Rikku sat there silently listening and breathing steadily. She soaked in every word he spoke like a child listening to their favorite bedtime story. "So… you guys defeated Yu Yevon? And Yu Yevon is inside Sin… and Yu Yevon isn't good or evil… and is alive but dreaming? Whoa, that is so confusing…" She scratched her head violently as she made a distressed face.

"Heh. Yea, imagine me trying to understand that." Tidus chuckled, hoping that it was the end of his story. The silence that crept back into the vessel gave him a sense of comfort for once. But Rikku continued to face Tidus, waiting for more.

"…And then? What happened? How'd you get here?" She leaned closer to him, hoping for an ending to his cliffhanger.

"Uh… Well…" He blinked blankly at the Al Bhed in front of him, trying to think of something. "Musta been something with fighting Sin. I mean, how'd I get from Zanarkand to those ruins, huh?"

"I guess…" She sighed, disgruntled by such an anticlimactic answer. Then, something dawned on her; what if he were to disappear again? Did defeating Sin mean that Tidus would disappear again? Suddenly, she didn't feel like believing the last part of his dream anymore... at least not for now. "That won't happen again though, right?" Rikku asked her companion, knowing he wouldn't know the answer.

"Hm…?" Tidus paused; he hadn't thought of that before. He sighed, struggling to give her a satisfying answer. He had figured that maybe the Fayth were just giving him another chance to live or screwed up something… but what if it does happen again? What if he was just another dream? Where would he go then? Into the Farplane? Or perhaps he would end up as another dream somewhere else. "I-I don't know…" He struggled to only give her this but upon seeing Rikku's face darken even further, he began to shake his head. "Nah… it's just the toxin talking... probably didn't even happen." Tidus tapped the side of his head, watching Rikku's concerned face ease and turn back to the controls. He hoped she would believe him and simply move onto another topic.

"I hope you're right…" She whispered to herself, only half-believing him. She could hear the hesitation in his voice but noting how incredibly awkward and quiet it had become; she knew not to interrogate any further. "If we really do kill Sin…" Admiration and hope rose in her voice with every word. "…permanently kill Sin… I'm gonna travel all over Spira and shove machina down those Al Bhed haters' faces…" Tidus watched as she started beaming and giggling at herself. He began chuckling at the thought of Rikku trying to stuff a gun into Wakka's face… not that he was a total Al Bhed hater… but close enough.

"Then you'll fly around on your own big shiny airship, huh?" Tidus leaned back into his chair, almost beaming from the fact that the atmosphere wasn't awkward or centering on him anymore. Rikku spun her chair a few times before noticing that it was a terrible thing to do when inside an underwater vessel that's traveling at a high speed. She stopped herself just before her stomach began turning, facing Tidus again, and winked.

"Yea, and you can be co-pilot?" She leaned into an armrest, raising an eyebrow. Tidus jumped slightly, continuing to chuckle.

"ME? Sure? I guess so!" He agreed, almost forgetting about what they were speaking of before. A bit of sickness hit him, not exactly the type of sickness a person would feel after drinking two gallons of milk, but a familiar and _good _sickness. For an instant, Tidus could feel heat building in his face… or maybe long terms in submarines just weren't his thing.

"Huh? I… was just kidding." Rikku watched him frown playfully. Her, a bratty 15 year old… co-piloting her own airship without Brother or Cid breathing down her neck? She almost burst into fits of laughter thinking of the possibilities; Brother would never let her do such a thing. Still she wasn't exactly kidding, maybe only half; she did want to one day have the freedom to travel on her own, and maybe be even lucky enough to travel with someone… special.

"So you don't want me as co-pilot? What? Is that seat reserved for someone else?" Tidus teased, knowing exactly what she had meant. "Man, and it woulda been so much fun watching you crash into mountains and stuff!"

"Hey!" Rikku bounced from her seat and glared at him, with a small smirk still hanging on her lips. "I am a **_very _**good driver!" She gave him a whole variety of faces as he shook from laughter. Like any well timed scheme or movie, Tidus had hoped that instant that their vessel would hit something and completely contradict her. Only Rikku had taken her seat, blowing him a raspberry before returning her attention to the controls. It became almost ridiculous how much fun they were able to have doing things most people would find childish. "Hey, Tidus? Guess what?" She began cranking away at levers and pressing intricate patterns of switches. Tidus could feel the machina slowing to a steady stop. A dulled light eased into the vessel as they neared the surface.

"We're there?" He asked, frowning a bit from disappointment. He had just started to enjoy their conversation; they weren't being awkward or silent anymore. But they finally reached their destination, Moonflow. Their submarine floated above the water, the entire machina hissed as compressed air escaped from the opening hatch. Rikku turned to him and beamed, nodding. "Pssh… finally…" He ran a hand through his hair, feigning his relief.

"Ahh… Moonflow…" Rikku pushed the lid open, breathing in the fresh air. She turned her head back and forth, checking out her surroundings. "Hey, it's almost sundown." She hopped off from the machina and waved her hand to Tidus.

"Really?" Tidus pulled himself out of the vessel and began admiring the area as well. They were stopped a little far back of the South Wharf in a secluded area behind the Shoopuf station. Memories were once again striking his senses; the temperature, scenery, smell, and sounds were all the same. He stopped to admire the moonlilies resting on the grey river, illuminated by the few pyreflies idly floating along the water.

"I wonder when Yunie's coming." Rikku asked, searching for her cousin and completely ignoring the beautiful scenery.

Tidus asked himself that question as well, only to remember that Yuna and her company would be in Djose Temple by now. "Ya know what? I think she might be stopping at Djose Temple for the night." Rikku jumped around and stared at Tidus, not wanting to believe what he said.

"Are you sure? Do you mean we've gotta wait for her the entire night? In this swamp?" She sighed.

"Well, it's not that bad." Tidus knelt by the water, watching a single pyrefly twirling around a moonlily. "Haven't you heard about how clouds of pyreflies gather here at night?" He turned to smile at her, pointing at the lights dancing around the moonlilies.

"Well, yeah. But Brother said that that's just a lie to get people to come here and buy stuff from the merchants." Rikku threw her arms behind her head, eyeing the river.

"But it wouldn't hurt to stay and see, right?" Tidus asked, getting a shrug for a response. He had always wanted to see the 'sea of stars' himself. He had said he'd come back after defeating Sin, and well… technically… he did. The sun was already beginning to sink into the horizon; the sky darkening.

"It's getting dark, I'm going to sleep." Rikku announced as she began climbing into the vessel. She was extremely tired and just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep like a log. Tidus bounced off his feet and ran after her.

"Hey!" He took her hand and pulled her away from the machina. Rikku's face flustered from the touch as she was involuntarily dragged to the river. "You've got to see the pyreflies with me." Tidus set her next to him and gazed into the river. The day had finally turned to night and yet the river stayed the same.

"This better be worth the wait." Rikku squinted at the dark river, only half hating the fact that she was still outside and awake. She wasn't as skeptical as she acted; a large part of her believed in the rumors. But it was Tidus' optimism caused her to actually want to stay.

"It'll be, trust me. You'll thank me later." Although he had never seen the phenomenon himself, he trusted that it would happen. Almost an hour passed, and both of them were growing impatient. The water stayed motionless and quiet, as did the two. "Come on…" He whispered to the pyreflies as he continued to wait. Tidus could feel Rikku almost dozing off beside him until she finally spoke.

"Aw, what a fluke. I told you…" Rikku placed her hand on her hip, sighing. "Can I go now?"

"I… guess…" He sighed; disappointed that the pyreflies hadn't come. "I guess Brother was right after all."

Rikku's eyes widened as she turned towards the machina. "Tidus, look!" She tightly grasped his hand, pulling him to turn around. Thousands upon thousands of colorful lights floated towards them; the lights were bright enough to illuminate the whole forest. "Whoa…"

"I told you…" Tidus repeated Rikku's words and chuckled, unable to look away from the clouds of pyreflies swarming towards them.

"Whoa…" She ignored his taunts and simply admired the beautiful sight as the lights grew bigger and bigger.

The comet-like lights danced along the river as they finally gathered on the water. The two stood and watched, speechless; but there really was no need for words. Many pyreflies stopped to dance around the two, welcoming them to watch the beautiful sea of stars before them. Rikku almost jumped as the pyreflies moved around and through her, kissing her skin with their warm embrace. She turned to Tidus, smiling as the globes of light twirled around him; they seemed to recognize his presence.

He raised his arms, trying to grasp the dancing stars as they moved around him. The air around them felt pleasantly warm as the lights warmed their souls. It was like standing in the middle of a cloud of stars. Rikku's excitement grew as she watched the pyreflies circling around Tidus, never wanting to stop. Tidus' eyes lit as bright as the stars as he saw how his presence attracted so many pyreflies. He beamed at the girl beside him, reaching out to touch the lights.

With one swift movement, Rikku took his arm and hugged it tightly. The overwhelming warmth that surged through her body caused all parts of her mind to think differently. In those short-lived moments, nervousness and shyness meant nothing to her. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to do anything but hold onto his arm and admire the lights illuminate him, standing on her toes and reaching out to feel the lights. Tidus jumped, peering over to see the Al Bhed smiling blissfully. Seeing her so happy, illuminated by the beautiful lights surrounding them, caused warmth to shoot into his face as it began to feel as if pyreflies had taken refuge in his stomach. He stiffened, unable to comprehend her actions and his own feelings until the environment engulfed him once again.

In such a safe state, nothing mattered… not the nagging guilt in the back of his head, not the confusing feelings he had been feeling lately, not the thoughts of Yuna or the others, not even Sin. Standing in a cloud of warm light brought back such nostalgic feelings; like cuddling against a mother's warm and comforting body on a sunny summer day. Minutes passed, maybe even hours, until the lights had ended their ethereal dance and settled calmly against the water. The two of them had grown tired of standing and decided to sit against the bank of the river instead.

The pyreflies seemed to be putting on a show just for the two, scattering beautifully around them while continuing to light the river before them. The couple watched the light show idly, choosing to simply admire the pyreflies than stand and move about with the lights. Rikku had been so infatuated with the breathtaking sight; she had forgotten to remove herself from Tidus' arm. Even he had forgotten about the hands holding his arm; not to say he had forgotten about Rikku's presence.

He felt her small body leisurely moving beside him with each breath; it was a comfortable reassurance that the world around wasn't just a dream. Before long, slumber began to creep up on both of them. In such a tranquil surrounding, it was hard not to let themselves fall asleep. Tidus had almost fallen asleep when he felt Rikku's weight shift onto his shoulder. "Hmm?" He turned his head carefully, making sure not to break such a peaceful moment. Rikku's head nestled perfectly against his shoulder as her breath slowly relaxed even further. A smile grew on Tidus' face as his eyes closed, ready to fall asleep himself. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't. The feeling of absolute safety and comfort was too much for him to let go. He knew if he fell asleep, he would wake up on a chilly morning, filled with more unexpected surprises days usually offered.

Before slumber had its chance to take him, something moved, keeping him awake. Rikku had suddenly woken up, peering over to the seemingly sleeping Blitzer she had been using as a pillow. Her smile matched with his as she watched him serenely sitting upright, his head slightly cocked. A warm feeling touched her entire body; uncontrollable feelings overwhelming her once again. In her tired daze, she brought herself to her knees and leaned over, brushing her lips against his face. "Thanks…"

Once again, Tidus' body stopped all movements; lungs ceased to draw air, and muscles tensed. At first, he had thought it was simply another pyrefly brushing against his skin until Rikku released her grip on his arm and crept away from him.

Tidus peeked from a slightly opened eye, watching Rikku tiptoe towards the machina. She quietly climbed into the vessel and all kept silent afterwards. He finally turned, making sure she was out of sight until he collapsed onto his back. For some reason, he didn't want Rikku knowing that he was awake. Tidus' face burned as pyreflies seemed to flutter in his stomach again. Guilt suddenly struck him, and yet the sheer excitement and bliss from what had happened instantly wiped the awful feeling from his body. Confusion followed; this pattern of feelings became quite familiar to him at this point.

However, sleep seemed much more important to him at the time. He finally relaxed, thinking only pleasant things as slumber sunk into his body. The night turned out to be very eventful; filled with warm lights and warm feelings. Although he had brought much more confusion to himself, along with many feelings of guilt, he couldn't help but think about how the night turned out. He had finally been able to see the amazing sea of stars he had heard of, experiencing it with Rikku. His eyes opened again, watching the pyreflies beginning to leave and creating a trail of shooting stars along the dark sky. He peered to the side, admiring the machina Rikku rested in before letting himself succumb to sleep. Another smile grew as he let out a final whisper into the silent night…

"I always knew there was something special about Moonflow…"

-

I am so happy I was able to finish chappy 8. Wha'd you think? Too much too fast? Or just right? Or NOT ENOUGH! Ha-ha… Tell me. I wrote the entire half of it in the middle of the night, and figured not to change it. –Shrugs- Thanks for bearing with me. I'll try to update sooner. Until next time… ciao.


	9. Nine

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my complete lack of care for this fanfic

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my complete lack of care for this fanfic. It's been what? A year and 8 months?! Somewhere around there. It all started off with a terrible writer's block, evolving into me not even remembering the plot of my own fanfic, and next thing I knew, I was just preoccupied with my life (I'm a Junior in high school now, and what with my AP classes and SAT's, it's so hard to have time) and didn't have time. Also, my life in sports just got so intense; I barely had time to do homework. Trust me, I felt so much guilt that I thought I was going to explode. Anyways, enough of my excuses. The main part is that I didn't have time to read my own fanfic to start building ideas again after such a long time.

I'm terribly sorry and hope to make it up to you guys with more updates and a uber kick ass ending (I actually might have to make some "pick your own ending" endings cuz I can't think of a proper ending for this). Anywhos, without further ado, here's number 9. I apologize if my writing has changed in the 2 years I was gone, I haven't done anything the entire time and I'm afraid my writing got worse.

Enjoy?

-

"Hm…" Tidus sighed as his eyes opened from the morning sun. As his eyes cleared from sleep, he breathed the crisp air and smiled. Memories of the night before made the cold air around him feel like a warm blanket. He quickly stood up and stretched, feeling the soreness in his muscles and bones loosen up. "Rikku?" Tidus looked around for any sign of the spunky girl. He walked over to the Extractor and peered into the vessel; it was empty. The subtle sound of splashing water in the quietness of the day caused him to back up and investigate.

In a clearing behind a bunch of trees and bushes was Rikku, crouching in front of the cleaner parts of the river, bringing water up to her face to wash it. Tidus crept to her, hoping to surprise her when all of a sudden, she turned around and splashed a wave of water at him.

"H-HEY!" He sputtered, almost falling over as Rikku began to giggle.

"Did that wake you up?" Rikku asked but Tidus simply grumbled, turning slightly red as he wiped the water from his face. "I wanted to wake you up but you were too busy drooling in your sleep." She giggled again.

"Well I'm awake now, aren't I?" He walked up to her as she turned back to the water, pulling her armor off of her body. Tidus closed his eyes for a moment, afraid of being indecent for watching. She turned around and grinned.

"Relax, Tidus, it's not like I'm naked." She laughed, submerging her armor into the water and scrubbing viciously. Tidus blushed at the idea, and opened his eyes to see that she was simply wearing her normal clothes underneath. She eyed him up and down in silence as they both crouched over the water doing nothing. "As for you, Smelly, I think you should take a bath or something." She took a hand from the water and pinched her nose, making a childish face at him.

"H-Huh?" He turned red even further as he raised an arm and sniffed himself. To be honest, he didn't smell anything offensive about his scent; after all, he did change into a new suit of armor. "You just want to see me naked!" Tidus shouted, laughing at her as her face glowed hot red.

"In your dreams!" She quickly responded, slashing some more water at him.

"More like in yours!" He chuckled again, with a wide grin on his face as she turned the reddest she could and furiously splashed him. "Hey, come on, watch it!" He shielded himself with one arm as the other reached out to stop his attacker. In a desperate attempt the assault of water, he splashed her in return and before the two knew it, they were having a battle splattering water.

"You're such an idiot!" Rikku taunted, giggling as she did so. Tidus responded with a huge splash of water and a fit of laughter.

"Not as big of an idiot as you!" He reared back to use both hands for a huge wave when he slipped and fell into the water; splashing water all over. Once the mist of water subsided, Rikku opened her eyes and watched him; soaked in the water with a moonlily sitting on his knee. She held her stomach and let out a laugh as he tried to stand up. The violent laughter caused her to lose balance and fall over as well, disrupting the still water again and causing Tidus to fall back down. They peered at each other and laughed like a couple of old childhood friends.

A warm sensation coursed through their bodies as they looked at each other, blushing from embarrassment but laughing anyway. Tidus stopped laughing and pressed his lips together to grin broadly at her. He loved the feelings he had when he was around her; he could be carefree and simply be happy. It was so easy to smile and laugh when they were together. She continued to giggle, shaking her head to get the wet locks of hair away from her face, while he stood up and extended a hand to help her up. "Thanks." She took his hand and smiled back at him, the warm sensation was getting warmer by the second.

They seemed to have a staring contest; eyes locked with each other as they wore identical smiles until a clutter of footsteps interrupted them. "Hm?" Tidus turned towards the sound and stepped out of the water, rushing to investigate. Rikku took slightly longer to break from the trance but followed quickly.

"It's Yunie!" Rikku crept up behind him as he spied behind a bush. They watched as Yuna and her entourage walked away from sight and towards the shoopuf landing. Tidus barely got a glance of Yuna but in the seconds that he was able to lock his attention on her, he realized that he had less interest than he expected. He froze for a second to study his own feelings when Rikku broke his thought process, tugging him away from the bush. "Come on, we have to get ready." She rushed back to the water and retrieved her clothes, shaking them of excess water and turned back at Tidus to make sure he was following her to the Extractor.

They both jumped into the vessel quickly and squeezed the water from their clothes to the best of their abilities before Rikku manned the controllers again, closing the machine and submerging them into the water. "Ok, so here's the plan. When we see that Yunie's on that Shoopuf, you'll go and grab her and bring her back here and we'll sail merrily back to Home." Tidus only nodded; he was still slightly in awe of what he was doing. It was definitely hard to believe that he was sitting there, an accomplice to the Al Bhed's plans to kidnap summoners. While he did believe it would be easier to kidnap them and simply defeat Sin, something about doing this gave him a great deal of guilt.

They sailed quietly as they waited for Yuna and the team to board the large animal. When the animal started moving, Rikku nodded at Tidus and put the machine on a faster gear to catch up. Finally, the two were riding alongside of the Shoopuf and rising to the top of the water to open the hatch. Tidus took the hissing sound as a sign and climbed out, jumping onto the animal and maneuvering himself to the top. It was difficult moving up the clumsy animal but as he neared the sitting area, he was able to grasp onto the walls. He could hear Wakka and the rest talking idling as he moved cautiously on the animal. He peered slightly into the sitting area and found Yuna sitting right in front of him. Even with a heavy beating heart, he quickly took Yuna by the arms and tugged her off the Animal, jumping into the water. She screamed and tugged at him, trying to break free of her assaulter but he quickly swam to the Extractor and pushed her into the vessel. He climbed inside and gave Rikku a quick thumbs up as Yuna picked herself up from her short fall into the Extractor. Wakka jumped into the water almost instantly after Tidus jumped into the vessel and swam after the speeding machina.

"That was quick!" Rikku commented and put the machine back on auto pilot as she went to help Yuna to her feet. "Yunie, it's me, Rikku!"

"Huh? Rikku? What are you doing?" Yuna grumbled as she rubbed her head, completely in shock of what was happening. Her voice did not seem angry but simply confused. Tidus stepped back and let the two speak, the presence of Yuna completely threw the balance of the vessel and he felt threatened by the conflicting feelings that began to rise in his brain and chest.

"Sorry we had to kidnap you, but it's for your own good, I promise." Rikku nodded at Yuna, smiling. Yuna shook her head at the idea and looked around for a way out.

"Rikku, I'm sorry but you can't do that. I need to go on with my pilgrimage, I must!"

"Don't be silly! We need to bring you to Home so we can protect you. The Al Bhed with take care of Sin, you'll see." Rikku tried approaching Yuna to reassure her but the older female shook her head. Suddenly, the vessel jolted and caused the three to stumble. Instinctively, Tidus stepped forward to help Rikku steady herself from falling. It wasn't after the vessel stopped moving that he realized that he had completely ignored Yuna. Rikku scrambled to her seat and buckled up, taking over the controls again. "It's that crazy blitz player with the weird hair again!" She announced, turning the vessel over to face the man as Wakka attacked them with his blitzball.

"Wakka!" Yuna bounced up and held onto the back of Rikku's seat. "Please don't hurt him! He's my guardian."

"Sorry, Yunie, can't promise you that. He's trying to kill us!" Rikku shook her head and pressed various buttons and moved levers to send piercers towards the orange-haired man. Wakka quickly realized that his Thunder Ball was coming in handy as every shot of his weapon zapped and hurt the machina greatly. With every pierce Rikku struck Wakka with, he only healed with a potion and struck back with his powerful weapon. Finally, Rikku positioned the Extractor above Wakka and readied for a heavy pummeling when he suddenly went into Overdrive. The blitzer was lucky enough to line up multiple lightning slots and before they knew what was going on, the machina was shaking and moaning from the attack. The lights inside flashed, controls ceased to comply, and water began streaming into the vessel.

"Hold on tight!" Rikku exclaimed as the vessel finally shook until it could take no more and exploded. She quickly motioned for the two to hold onto her as she pressed a button and ejected them from the machina and into the water not far away. The Extractor shook and exploded, causing a strong ripple in the water, knocking them violently. Tidus closed his eyes from the forced of the water but forced them open to make sure that the two were still there as the grip of Rikku left his arm.

"Rikku!" He screamed into the bubbling water, the currents were too strong for him to see much. He did see Rikku, still holding onto Yuna, floating away from him from the explosion. As he frantically tried to swim towards them, he closed his eyes. A piece of debris hit him in the stomach, sending pain through his entire body. He opened his eyes in pain but the shock of the pain caused him to lose his consciousness. His sight dimmed into darkness and the last glimpse he had was of Rikku's concerned face.

Time quickly passed and Tidus finally gained his consciousness, lying on the shore of Moonflow, gentle waves tickling his sore body. "Ugh…" He picked himself up and shook his head, turning sit up and hold his ribs. He was sure he had broken something along the way. As he finally grasped the setting and what had happened, he turned to look for Rikku. "Rikku?" There was no sign of her. His heart fell again from the worried thoughts that filled his brain. What if she's hurt, where is she? Once again, his mind did not even wander to think about Yuna, only Rikku, whether it was because he was not used to her presence or because of… something else.

He sat in pain for a while until he gathered enough strength to stand up; everything that happened to him the past few days was too much for his body to take. He limped across the shore and into the forested area, finding himself standing in front of the path leading to Guadosalam. "Rikku?" He called her name again, hoping for an answer when he heard shuffling in the forest. Suddenly, an armored girl rushed out into the open from behind a bush, screaming. He quickly recognized her armor. "Rikku!" She shook her head and said nothing, simply pointing at the creature that chased after her. She didn't have a weapon but luckily, Tidus did. Even though his body was in pain, adrenaline took over him and his need to protect Rikku energized him. He unsheathed his sword and sliced away at the fiend until it disintegrated into the ground. He quickly turned around and placed his hands on her masked cheeks.

"Rikku, you alright?" He said, bringing her closer to inspect her for wounds.

"I'm sorry." A different voice responded from behind the mask. It was Yuna. This was a surprise to him, a flush of blood left his toes and into his head. It was the first time he had actually spoken to Yuna since this all began and the feeling was truly eerie. He had waited for this exact thing; speaking to her, but now that it came, he found it difficult and strange in a way. Though he was happy to hear a familiar voice, he felt like it no longer held a purpose. He knew that this Yuna knew nothing about him, and that any previous feelings and ideas were not within her. The Yuna he was looking for would never be found.

"Yuna?" Another familiar voice called from behind the bush, followed by the sound of rustling of leaves and the appearance of Rikku. The sight of her was enough to make Tidus smile but Rikku glanced quickly at how closely Tidus was holding Yuna and frowned. She was surprised to see him so close to the armored girl, unable to make sense of the situation. All she saw was his face, which was glowing red and his hands on Yuna's face. A tinge of pain struck her heart. She quickly overcame the feelings and was simply glad that the two were okay. She feigned a smile at the two and walked over.

"Glad to see you're okay." Tidus took his arm away from Yuna and smiled warmly at the Al Bhed, walking towards her. She stopped in her tracks and nodded awkwardly. He noticed her action and stopped moving too, deciding to change the subject. "We're on the way to Guadosalam." He pointed at the trail.

"Mhmm." Rikku glanced between the two and nodded. "We… um… should avoid people as much as possible, alright? I'm sure news of us kidnapping Yuna has spread already. That's why I made Yunie wear my armor. If anyone asks, we're just traveling merchants, okay?" Tidus nodded and so did Yuna. It was obvious that Rikku and Yuna had already settled something between them about the kidnapping and Yuna was playing along for now. Rikku looked between them again and led the two along the trail. Rikku moved rapidly in front of them and avoided looking at the two as she thought to herself.

"What a sleazebag, I leave him alone for two minutes and he's groping Yuna all over! He doesn't even know her!" Rikku said to herself, obviously overreacting to Tidus' action. "This'll be the last time I'll even THINK about a guy like him."

"Hey Rikku, are you okay?" Tidus sensed her awkwardness as she furiously stomped along the trail.

"I am fine, Tidus." She stated bluntly without even turning around. The fire that burned inside of her repelled any fiend that would have approached them otherwise.

"Are you sure?" He quickened his steps to walk along side her, looking at her face to study her expression. She turned her head to avoid his glance and quickened her pace to get away.

"Leave me alone. You're just like everyone else." She gulped, feeling her anger turn into disappointment and gloom.

"What?" He was dumbstruck; he had no idea where this was coming from but he decided not to question it because of how angry she seemed. His pace slowed down and he resumed his place behind Rikku, peering back at Yuna for an answer. The summoner was idly following and watching but didn't understand either, so she gave a simple shrug.

Yuna moved faster to walk next to Tidus, removing the mask from her face to smile at him. "We never got to introduce ourselves, I'm Yuna."

"I… know." Tidus' eyes shifted to Yuna's eyes and once again, blood flushed into his face. He wasn't sure if it was romantic feelings that made him uneasy or if it was simply that it was so strange that he was talking to Yuna again. "I-I'm Tidus." He struggled through his words, feeling nostalgic as he studied the summoner's face. Though he knew this Yuna didn't know him, he felt at home again.

Rikku peered backwards to watch the conversing couple and frowned again, her heart was beating painfully at the sight of Tidus smiling so warmly at Yuna. She sensed the connection he had with Yuna and finally, it dawned upon her; Tidus must have had a past with Yuna in his "dream". That explained his sudden interests in her and his nervous avoidance of her name in his stories. He had spoken about the entire group of people in detail except for Yuna. Tidus loved Yuna. She pressed her lips together tightly as if closing her mouth would keep any feelings from entering her head, and continued walking. Rikku knew that she and Tidus didn't do anything that signified that they were together but for a while, she had hoped that they would have a future together. Now, after realizing Tidus' feelings for Yuna, she just wanted to be alone. She felt cold as a million feelings attacked her while the two conversed behind her.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the entrance of the underground city. They quickly gathered their composure and walked inside, an elderly Guado was standing there, waiting for Yuna. They tried to slip past him but he quickly stopped them. "Welcome to Guadosalam, what brings you to our great city?"

"Um. We're just merchants, traveling, you know. No big." Rikku squinted her eyes and smiled, hoping for the old Guado to not recognize her as an Al Bhed. She knew that after kidnapping Yuna, sooner or later, the world would know that it was the Al Bhed who did it. The Guado did recognize Tidus and Yuna's armor clothing though.

The Guado placed a hand on his chin and nodded at them while eying the three up and down. "You three didn't hear anything about the recent kidnapping of Lady Yuna, have you?" He asked, obviously investigating the three for any suspicious behavior.

"Oh no, may Yevon be with her." Rikku gulped and feigned concern. She knew that using Yevon, she could at the very least act like she wasn't an Al Bhed.

"Hm. Well… you way carry along then." The Guado looked at them again and gave a reluctant grin before fanning his hand towards the city, gesturing them to walk on. As they walked past them, he frowned at them and walked away to speak to another Guado.

"Thank you." Rikku bowed her head as the two remained silent and they all walked into the city. Once they were out of the sight of the Guado, Rikku turned to the two and whispered, "Alright, we're only staying for a second. We'll grab a few things and get out of here. First we need to go through the Thu-", but stopped as she realized the next location was the Thunder Plains.

"We'll go through the Thunder Plains and meet your bother in Macalania?" Tidus finished her sentence, already knowing what was going on.

"… R-Right." Rikku shook at the idea of having to face the lightning storms.

"Don't worry. The Thunder Plains isn't that bad. We'll run through it if we have to." He smiled, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she forced a grin. She shook his hand away and entered a building, still hurt from her own thoughts. Yuna and Tidus shrugged at each other again and followed.

-

Hm. I don't know. I'm actually kinda disappointed in this chapter. Maybe that's why I took such a long break. I really had no idea what I was going to do after Moonflow and this chapter is definitely proof that I didn't want to write this part. I'm sure I missed a lot of important points here and I just don't feel comfortable posting this but I know if I rewrote this chapter, I'll never get to it so… here it is. It's definitely really rusty from the long break. Whatever, next chapter will be better, I promise.


	10. Ten

Ok. Chapter 10! It's finally happening. I'm actually continuing the story!!

Enjoy?

-

They entered the building and heads already turned at the sight of Al Bhed clothing but Rikku had quickly put her goggles on her face to avoid confirmation that they were truly Al Bhed. She quickly looked around and grabbed a few items, stuffing some into her clothing while no one was looking. Tidus noticed this and walked up to her.

"What are you doing?" He looked around to make sure no one was watching them.

"Think I have enough gil to buy this stuff? I'm just going to snatch a few things and we'll leave. Here, help me." She looked around again and shoved a couple of potions into Tidus' pockets. "Alright let's go." Rikku grabbed his hand and ran out of the shop, Yuna racing behind them. They quickly scrambled to the entrance of the Thunder Plains, where Rikku stood there in awe of it all. From the entrance, she could already hear stifled rumbles. She shook slightly and took a step back to gain her composure but stepped into Tidus instead.

"It's not that bad, I promise." Tidus looked down at the girl and gave an encouraging smile. She stepped away from him, still thinking about him and Yuna.

"Whatever." The growing rage in Rikku's mind caused her to act bitterly. She swallowed her fears for an instant and pushed herself to enter the fields of thunder storms. She almost stopped in her tracks when she saw the darkened atmosphere, with the only lights being the crackling lightning in the sky but she sensed Tidus walking closer to her so she to picked up her speed again and faced her fear to get through the plains as quickly as possible.

Tidus frowned at her, confused and depressed from Rikku's unusually gloomy and angry mind-set. He wasn't sure whether to let her sulk or to confront it, either way, she was going to be upset for a while. He thought over it and decided that it was probably the fact that they were in the Thunder Plains that was causing her to be so upset but he was quite surprised and impressed that she was moving through the plains with such rapid fluidity.

She certainly was zooming across the plains, but she shook and screamed to herself with every thunderous clap in the sky and flash of light. A flash of lightning crashed against the ground next to her, causing her to jolt away and scream loudly. "AHH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS!!" Rikku turned around aimlessly and searched for refuge. Tidus saw her desperation and ran towards her to help her.

"Rikku, there's a travel agency right there." He took her by the shoulders to stop her uncontrolled thrashing and turned her to face the building in the distance. "We'll stay there tonight and you can chill out for a little bit, alright?" She was so overcome with the fear of getting struck by lightning, she forgot about her previous thoughts and feelings. Getting to safety was her main concern right now.

With his hands still steadying her, he held onto her while they inched their way towards the small inn. Yuna grinned at the two and followed quietly behind. She had found Tidus striking but was extremely excited to see someone act so affectionate towards her cousin and couldn't be happier for Rikku. Rikku calmed her breathing, looking anywhere but the sky and Tidus. As her thoughts returned to her head, she questioned Tidus again. _Why is he even bothering with helping me? _She sighed and simply accepted his touch for the time being; she knew that if he wasn't beside her, she would be shaking uncontrollably. The second they entered the sheltered building, Rikku slowly broke free of Tidus' hold. A sigh escaped the blitzer's mouth as he realized that she was still the gloomy self she had been after Moonflow. He thought of the possible reasons why she would be upset and couldn't think of much besides the plains.

"Two rooms please?" Rikku smiled as she placed a palm against the flat counter and extended another hand, gesturing 'two' at the clerk. The clerk nodded promptly and reached behind for keys.

"That'll be 200 gil." The clerk smiled at the young Al Bhed as he placed the keys on the counter. Rikku's smile melted away as she reached into her pockets and realized that she had only 40 gil and a few potions with her.

"Hey?" Rikku gestured for her cousin to come over and asked for her to check her pockets for gil. Yuna felt her pockets and shook her head, only able to retrieve 20 more gil. She placed it in Rikku's hands and shrugged, unable to speak because of her disguise.

"Um. That will not be enough, I'm sorry." The clerk gave a forced grin.

"Okay, I've got a great deal. I'll give you four potions and the 60 gil for the rooms." Rikku rested her arm on the counter and looked the clerk in the eye, grinning widely.

"I'm terribly sorry but we can't do that. 60 gil isn't even enough for one room."

Rikku frowned and turned around to the two. "What now?" Yuna pulled the Al Bhed aside.

"If I just showed my face, I'm sure they'll let us have a room." Yuna told Rikku, knowing that her appearance would be useful in this situation.

"I'm not so sure about that, Yunie, what if they tell the Guados that they saw you? We'll be in big trouble." Rikku frowned again as she whispered.

"I guess… I guess we'll be able to stay in the lobby. It's alright." Yuna sighed and nodded at the other girl, acknowledging Rikku's reasoning.

The thunder outside crackled loudly, shaking the inn. Rikku yelped and ran back to the clerk. "Are the rooms sound proof?"

"We try our best with that." The clerk nodded.

"Okay do it." Rikku raced back to Yuna and closed her eyes tightly.

"Okay." Yuna nodded and walked towards the clerk, she lifted her mask and smiled brightly at the clerk. "Hi, I'd like a room but I haven't the gil to pay. Is it alright if my guardians and I got a room?"

"Huh? Lady Yuna." The clerk gestured a prayer towards Yuna, bowing and nodding. "Of course." He placed the key in Yuna's hand and nodded again, frowning for a second. "B-But, I heard, perhaps rumors, that you were kidnapped by the Al Bhed." The clerk eyed Rikku and Tidus up and down.

"Oh no, how silly. These are my guardians, I assure you." Yuna nodded and smiled again. The clerk gave her a doubtful nod in return and watched as the three walked to the room.

When they entered the room, Yuna unmasked herself completely and let her hair finally fall out of the helmet. She smiled and shook her head, feeling free again. Tidus smiled at the familiar sight of her without a mask. Rikku caught his smile and bit her lip, feigning a grin and walked into the bathroom. She closed the door tightly and leaned against it, sighing. _So it is true._ She closed her eyes and sighed again, remembering the warm moments she had with Tidus and wondering why they felt so magical. She opened her eyes as she took off her goggles and looked into the mirror before her, frowning.

_No wonder Tidus loves Yuna, I'm just an immature little girl. Yunie's beautiful and I'm __**cute**__ at best. No one wants a dirty Al Bhed. _Rikku thought as she looked at her reflection; she looked like a mess, with dirt smudged on her tan skin, and her hair messy as ever. Her hair was dirty blonde, as if she was impure; her skin showed that she was just a worker after all, while Yuna looked pure and royal with her dark hair and pale skin. Her heart was beating heavily again. There was no use in crying, she thought, and wiped the few tears that stung her eyes. She wasn't ready to cry over a guy, especially if it was because of her own cousin. She put on a smile and walked out.

"Hey, feeling better?" Tidus looked up and gave a grin. She couldn't stop herself from frowning again when she noticed that the two were sitting next to each other at the end of the bed, conversing and laughing before she came in. She saw the glow on Tidus' face, along with the smile that arched Yuna's lips. She shrugged, shaking her head before turning the knob to go back into the lobby. "What's wrong with Rikku?" Tidus turned to Yuna and frowned. "Is she upset about the Thunder Plains or what?"

"She seems a little upset at you, I think." Yuna gave him a hesitant grin. "You should talk to her." She knew her cousin better than Tidus at this point, and knew that Rikku could overreact and get upset over little misunderstood things. Tidus nodded at her before exiting to the lobby. When he walked into the lobby, he wouldn't find Rikku anywhere.

"Don't tell me she's outside…" He whispered under his breath and left the agency, finding the blonde girl huddled right outside of the doors, shaking against the wall. "Hey! What are you doing out here? Aren't you scared?" He placed a hand on her shoulder, she looked up and frowned, pulling away from him and standing up to walk away. "Hey! What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything's just perfect." Rikku reacted like any teenage girl, stubborn as always. She moved to walk back into the inn when he blocked her. Seeing no other way to avoid him, she turned and faced the plains, gulping and marching into the fields.

"Whoa! Hey!" Tidus ran after her, afraid she would get struck by lightning if she stood too far into the plains. "You gotta be carefu-" As he said this, a jolt of lightning struck the ground close to them. Rikku screamed, clenched her fists and continued running. "RIKKU, YOU'LL GET HURT!"

Suddenly, another flash of light struck the ground, close to Rikku. She jumped backwards and into Tidus' arms again. Tears began to stream down her face now from her terrible fear of thunder. "I HATE THIS. I WANT TO GO HOME. I HATE THIS!" Rikku turned and buried her face in Tidus' chest, shaking and crying. An incredible feeling of embarrassment flushed to her head as she realized how childish she was sounding, and yet she couldn't stop herself from burying further into his hold. "I'm scared, Tidus." His warmth was enough to calm her in the storm; it was enough to get rid of the fear.

"Why are you running away from me then?" Tidus looked down at the blonde and held her tightly. "What's up with you anyway?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it. Let's just go back inside please." Rikku spoke into his chest, unable to look up or anywhere.

"Alright, but first you need to tell me what's wrong? Are you mad at me or something?" He leaned back to look at her face. She kept her head down and shook it, trembling as he took his arms away from her.

"No, I'm not. I'm just embarrassed of myself… I guess." Rikku muttered, only half lying. "I'm acting like such a kid, you know?"

"I don't think so…" Tidus gave her a grin and patted her on the arm. "Come on." Her body shook but she couldn't move a single muscle to move. "I'll tell you a secret…" He leaned forward to whisper. "I'm afraid of chocobos." Rikku peered up to study his expression. Tidus knew that he was lying but he would've said anything to make her feel better.

"No you're not." Rikku said with disbelief. She shook her head as a small grin tugged on the side of her lips.

"Yeah, I am. I swear, I think they're the scariest things ever." Tidus nodded his head and gave a grin. "How's that for embarrassing?_** You**_ have nothing to be embarrassed about."

"That's pretty weak, Tidus." She finally smiled, laughing softly at him. Suddenly, she didn't feel so helpless anymore. She was able to smile and laugh and finally able to move again.

Tidus shrugged at her response and patted her again so they could start walking back to the inn. He watched her gather up her courage and face the walk with almost no fear and smiled warmly. "You know, you're a lot more mature than you give yourself credit for… plus, I think I like the fun loving Rikku a lot more. Who wants to talk to a grumpy old hag anyway?" For those few moments walking back to the inn, Rikku forgot about everything and glowed from Tidus' caring words. Though she knew almost for a fact that Tidus had feelings for Yuna, whether or not it was still true, she couldn't help but admit that his presence left her the happiest she's been since she was younger.

Yet, she couldn't sort out these feelings and the thoughts of Tidus' previous life. He acted with such care for her but still smiled so affectionately at Yuna. What did this mean? What did he want? Who did he have feelings for? Perhaps he only thought of her as a younger sister? She sighed again as they neared the inn and decided not to let her thoughts affect her mood since she had no true evidence except for her own intuition. She shrugged the thoughts off and walked towards their room. Tidus followed closely behind. It was becoming late and the both wanted to get a good night's rest.

The lights were dimmed as they walked in, and a very tired Yuna was sprawled across one of the beds, taking up most of the space. Rikku and Tidus looked at each other with concern and shrugged. Tidus began taking off his armor, leaving him with his more comfortable clothing.

"Yunie?" Rikku walked up to the summoner and pushed her gently. "Hey, can you make room for me? Hm?" A soft snore was her response. "Um… Yuna?" She shook her more violently this time and still there was no response.

She turned around to Tidus and coughed. The two beds were big enough to comfortably accommodate two people but it would have been very awkward to share the bed with the opposite gender.

"Oh, that's okay. You can take the other bed; I'll sleep on the floor." He waved his hand towards the bed and nodded his head reassuringly. "It's no big deal."

"Aw, Tidus, please its okay. You take the bed. You got knocked by that huge piece of metal and everything." Rikku shook her head and gestured him towards the bed.

"No, no, I'm fine. Really, go ahead, take the bed." Tidus shook his head as well, pointing at the bed. This back and forth argument went on a few more rounds until they both sighed and complied at the same time. They climbed onto the bed but realizing that the other had done the same, sat and sighed again.

"Ok, how about this? We'll play Shoopuf, Chocobo, Cactuar. Best two out of three wins the bed." Rikku suggested, rearing back to start the game. Tidus tilted his head, unfamiliar with the game. After a quick explanation, they began.

"Shoopuf, Chocobo, Cactuar!" Rikku and Tidus clapped a closed fist against their palms with every word and at the sound of 'Cactuar', unleashed a hand gesture to represent the species they spoke of. Shoopuf defeats Cactuar, Chocobo defeats Shoopuf, and Cactuar defeats Chocobo. The first round was won by Rikku. The second was Tidus'.

"Ok, one for each of us. Last one decides it all!" Rikku announced climatically. They held their fists in the air in anticipation of the winner. At that moment, they both felt like kids again; carefree and happy. It was great to feel so easy with each other again.

"SHOOPUF, CHOCOBO, CACTUAR!" They screamed and threw their gestures at each other. They both struck Cactuar. Once again, they shouted the names and both struck Cactuar again. They tried again and had the same results.

"Ok, stop picking Cactuar." Tidus grumbled.

"You first." Rikku pointed at him and growled.

"Whatever, one more time." Tidus rolled his eyes, holding his hand in the air again.

"Shoopuf, Chocobo, Cactuar!" They both picked Chocobo.

"Okay, this is getting annoying." Rikku sighed. She blinked; her eyelids were getting heavy from the lack of rest. "I'm tired."

"Me too. Here, just take the bed." Tidus rolled off the bed and onto the floor.

"Hey! Come on, you take it." She crawled off the bed and moved him onto the mattress.

"No, Rikku. It's fine!" They began fighting over it again when Rikku finally gave up.

"You know what? It's either we both sleep on the floor, or on the bed." Rikku said, blushing at the latter idea. "So… I guess we might as well be comfortable, right?"

Tidus sighed and nodded, he couldn't fight with that argument. He was very sore and tired and a nice night of sleep on a comfortable bed sounded perfect. "Here." He lifted both the top and second sheets and gestured to Rikku." You'll sleep under these sheets and I'll sleep over them… so it won't be so… um. Weird."

"Pssh, not like I'd let there be any funny business." Rikku stuck out her tongue and climbed under the sheets. Tidus crawled onto the bed and covered himself with only the top sheet.

"I wouldn't want your smelly feet to touch mine." He winked at her playfully and turned to face away from her.

"You're a real meanie, you know that?" Rikku shook her head at him and turned away from him as well, closing her eyes.

"Good night, Rikku." Tidus mumbled with a tired breath, ending their silly argument. They had been acting like children all night, feeling uninhibited with each other as always but now the games were over and they were ready to rest.

"Mhmm." She could barely respond as slumber took over her immediately. Within seconds they were fast asleep, their exposed shoulders touching each other slightly, keeping each other warm. Even in their sleep, smiles adorned their face.

Yuna, being awake all along, opened her eyes at the two and giggled to herself. "How cute."

-

haha, emo and then cute funny? Weird. I know, did you have fun reading it at the very least?


	11. Eleven

Alright… so… it was the beginning of the summer for me, and I decided to go to New York to get a piercing

Alright… so… it was the beginning of the summer for me, and I decided to go to New York to get a piercing without the permission of my parents, and I got it done… everything was chill, and awesome. Then my parents found out and took the comp from me for a while. So… that's why updates haven't been coming. But I'm back (hopefully) and … here. Kinda got writers block too.

Enjoy?

-

Hours passed in the still shelter of the inn, surrounded by the thunderous plains around them. Slumber was deep as dreams crept up on both of them. Tidus found himself in the same exact dream as he had several times before; standing on a dock, facing figures in the fog. This reoccurring dream must have been a message to him, and yet, he was as confused and disoriented as ever. "Hello?" he called out to the figures; both of which were standing away from him. He rushed to meet their faces, but both of them remained stoic, staring out away from the dock.

"Rikku?" He waved his hand in front of her face, tilting his head. "Yuna?" Tidus repeated his actions. Yuna's body twitched, and her head turned quickly to give him a confused expression.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Yuna's words caused him to take a step back and evaluate.

"I… I guess not." He bowed his head, sighing as he studied the thick fog enveloping his body. He felt like he couldn't breathe, as if the fog was a heavy hand on his throat, choking him. Tidus looked back at the two girls, gasping for air but Yuna had returned back to her stoic stance while Rikku simply smiled at him, waving as he fell to the ground.

His eyes shot open, shocking him out of his sleep, and yet he still could barely breathe. It took him a few seconds before realizing that his own clothing had been strangling him in his sleep. Tidus shook his head to free his neck, breathing normally again. It took another few seconds before he noticed that his arm was trapped by something. He turned gently, and found his arm held warmly by Rikku. His heart pulsed heavily, causing him to feel disoriented for a moment. A smile stretched his face and once again he felt warm and relaxed. He chuckled to himself and leaned back into his pillow, enjoying the comfort of it all. He turned his face once again to sneak a peak at the slumbering girl next to him; he could feel the warmth of her body next to him between the sheets.

Rikku's face twitched in her sleep as her slumber came with dreams as well. "Tidus! Show me that move again." She screamed above water as Tidus reappeared from below the surface. He nodded and dove back, holding onto a Blitzball. He performed his signature move and gave her thumbs up as she clapped happily underwater. Suddenly, Tidus turned and waved at another figure in the water. It didn't take long for her to realize that it was Yuna. Yuna swam close to Tidus and stole the ball from him, swimming away. He smiled and swam forward, chasing her. Rikku's smile was erased from the bubbles that clouded the water. Before she knew it, the two had disappeared and she was left cold and alone. "HEY! Where'd you guys go?" She came from below the water and screamed to no one. Even in her dream, the pain was all too real. She felt abandoned, and betrayed. All of a sudden, she felt a sinking feeling, as if she was going to drown and all she could do was thrash futilely.

Little did she know, she was thrashing outside of her dream as well. Tidus had just begun relaxing and falling back to sleep when a strong punch knocked him out of the bed, almost bringing the sheets with him. With a low thump, he fell onto the ground. "Ergh…" Tidus rubbed his nose and got to his feet, looking at the other blonde slowly relaxing in her deep sleep. He stumbled backwards, leaning against the wall, and regained his composure before swiftly sneaking into the bathroom to make sure his face wasn't broken.

As the door closed shut, Rikku's eyes slowly opened from the sudden draft of cold air next to her. Slight confusion fell upon her as she found the room empty. She looked around, finding both Yuna and Tidus missing. She first didn't question it, until suddenly, her previous thoughts came flooding back to her. What could they be doing without her? A feeling in her stomach made her groan; she couldn't tell whether it was hunger or simply the uncertainty she felt. Rikku decided to move quickly, jumping out of bed and bolting out into the lobby. "Yunie? Tidus?"

In the lobby stood Yuna and three Guados, conversing secretly. Yuna turned and looked at Rikku with concern. "Oh."

"What's going on?" Rikku approached them, the Guados watched her with intensity, readying their weapons.

"Lord Seymour has requested to see me." Yuna said timidly, peering back at the Guado.

"And we have heard that Summoner Yuna has been kidnapped by filthy Al Bhed." A Guado added, stepping forward to look closely at Rikku. Rikku's hands clenched into balls as she closed her eyes, turning away from them.

"An Al Bhed? So this is true!" Another Guado exclaimed, confirming his accusation by simply looking at Rikku's clothing. The Guados took an offensive stance, holding their claws towards her.

"No, no. You must understand. She is my guardian." Yuna stepped forward, fearing for her cousin's life.

"Impossible! Your guardians are resting with Lord Seymour. They have informed us of your kidnapping."

"No, I insist; she is my guardian. You must have heard wrong."

"Ah, I see that the Al Bhed have drugged you!" The Guado took hold of Yuna. "You must come with us." Rikku opened her eyes and looked at them, frowning.

"You better let go of her! What do you know about the Al Bhed, huh? We're good people!" She lunged forward, angry at their comments. The Guado retaliated, lashing forward with their weapons as another Guado took Yuna and ushered her out of the inn. By this point, Tidus had noticed the commotion from within the room and had made his way out into the lobby.

Tidus glanced at Rikku, fighting head on with two Guados as the third pushed Yuna out of the exit. He quickly calculated in his mind before quickly running to rescue Yuna. Rikku noticed him as he quickly glanced at her and ran past her. She could see the intensity in his eyes; a passion she had not seen before. Once again, a sick feeling assaulting her stomach as a stinging feeling burned the back of her head but there was no time to sulk; she had to defend herself.

The blitzer swiftly caught up to the Guado and Yuna, engaging in a short lived battle with him. He simply slashed the Guado with his blade, causing the pale creature to recoil and flee, heading back to Guadosalam. Yuna was dumbstruck, unable to make anything from the situation. Tidus had no time for this, grabbing her hand and leading her back into the inn but before he reached the entrance, a loud crash was heard and Rikku bolted out of the door, puffs of smoke trailing after her. Tidus inwardly smiled at the sight; he knew all along she would have no problem facing the Guado. It was that confidence and pride that he had in her that told him that she would not need his help.

"LETS GO!!" She waved at Tidus as she sprinted into the ominous fields. Before Tidus and Yuna could catch onto her and begin following, she caught a glance of Tidus's hand. The same sick sensation caused her to lose her breath and falter slightly. _I can't believe this._ Not only did he choose to save Yuna over her, Tidus was holding her cousin's hand! She closed her eyes, daring herself to run even faster, simply to escape her own thoughts and to escape the dangers of the Thunder Plains.

"Rikku watch out!" Tidus exclaimed, all too late, for shortly after, Rikku tripped and crashed into a large fiend. An Iron Giant towered over her, clad in his dark iron armor and yielding his large sword. She screamed as the menacing fiend crashed his sword into the ground and raised it once again to attack her, but she couldn't move. More struck with pain than with shock, she simply grimaced and waited for her death. Without a second thought, Tidus leapt forward and attacked the dark giant, slamming his blade against the giant's armored leg. The Iron Giant was barely fazed by such an attack but took a step backwards to see his new target. Tidus quickly reached for Rikku's pockets and pulled out a random bomb, throwing it into the face of the fiend. A thick black smoke exploded on him and he fell backwards, immediately blinded by the smoke bomb. Before the giant could regain his step, Tidus had gestured for Yuna to follow and picked the small blonde up, racing towards the exit.

Rikku simply held her breath, still slightly dazzled. "You okay?" Tidus looked down as they finally escaped the Thunder Plains and entered the mystical Macalania Woods.

"J-Just fine." She answered, stuttering from her delicate state. Her face glowed a brilliant pink as she realized how embarrassing that ordeal had been. She gestured for Tidus to let her down but as soon as her foot met the ground, she winced, causing Tidus to pull her back up. "Ugh."

"Guess not." Tidus set her down on her back and crouched down, gesturing for her to hop onto his back. "Come on."

"No…. just give me a minute…" Rikku shook her head, not ready to rely on Tidus as her transportation; she could barely look at him at that point.

"Come on, Rikku. We don't have much time." Tidus waved at her again, turning around to give her a concerned look. Rikku continued to shake her head. Yuna, all this time, paced back and forth and looked towards the plains.

"I-I must go back. They're waiting for me." Yuna balled her hands into fists at a futile attempt to convince the two. "Lord Seymour, and all my friends; they're waiting for me. They'll be worried sick if I don't go."

"You can't!" Tidus bounced up and faced Yuna, stopping her in her tracks. "Seymour is nothing but a lying bastar-"

"Please! Do not speak about him in such a manner. He is an honorable man." Yuna took a step forward, her forehead wrinkling from her frowning face.

"You don't know what he's up to! He killed his own father! And he's a liar. He just wants to marry you and take over the world. He's a crazy nut!" Tidus swung an arm in front of him, showing his anger towards the summoner.

"How can that be true? And how would you know?" The brunette shrunk away from the angry blonde. "I'm sorry. I must go back. I would want you to join my group of guardians." She turned and began heading towards the Thunder Plains.

"No!" Tidus lunged forward and seized her firmly by her shoulders and turned her to face him. Rikku turned her body towards the two to watch. "You don't have to die to defeat Sin. I know."

"But… those are the teachings… there's only one way. There's no hope trying. I know what I must do." Yuna kept her ground, staring Tidus straight in the eyes. Tidus kept a strong hold of her eyes as well. He studied her expression and her words, finding it harder and harder for him to agree with her. Her face was the same, but this was not the same Yuna he knew. She was same on many levels, but yet so different in his eyes, and suddenly, he found it hard to feel the same magic, the same connection, as he had once felt. Though Rikku agreed with Tidus and wanted to cheer him on, she couldn't help but once again notice the look in his eyes as he stared upon her cousin's face. The gut-wrenching feeling seized her body again; causing her to forget about her injured leg. "Rikku? What do you say?" Yuna's question broke the Al Bhed's trance.

"…" Rikku thought for a moment; knowing that she was still disoriented from her ordeal and from her feelings with Tidus. "You… should believe in him. He really knows what he's saying… trust me." She nodded at the brunette, grinning slightly as Tidus gave her a toothy smile. Yuna faltered from his response and retreated as Tidus released her arms.

It took moments before she could gather a response, looking pensively at the floor. "I see…" She turned to Rikku to meet her eyes, making sure her cousin was not lying. "But perhaps we could still meet with my friends?"

Rikku swallowed as she shook her head. "Sorry, no time. Brother's meeting up with us today. We have to get to the next inn in time." Tidus nodded at the resolved conversation and returned to his spot next to Rikku. Yuna received the response slowly and hesitantly.

"Okay. I trust you… and Tidus." Yuna nodded, looking at the floor as she resigned from her original idea. "Then… we must go on, and quickly." She sighed and took her steps forward into the shimmering, icy forest.

"Alright… Rikku, you ready?" Tidus looked down at her, but she could barely return a glance. Though she still had no real physical evidence of his attraction towards Yuna, she had a gut feeling about it all, and couldn't help but feel hurt from it. She knew she couldn't possibly stand up and walk on her own, so she kept quiet. "Rikku? Are you still hurt?" Tidus knelt down, concerned for her health, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"…" She remained silent as she contemplated crawling her way through the forest. Tidus patted himself down for items before realizing that he had left everything besides his clothing and blade at the inn.

"Sorry, I don't think I've got a potion on me." He shrugged at her, waiting for a reply. When he received nothing as his response, he decided to take charge of the situation before any more time was wasted. He studied her for a moment, thinking she was still embarrassed by her nightmare with the Iron Giant. "Come on." He maneuvered Rikku's body towards him and pulled her onto his back, forcing her to hold onto his shoulders.

"Hey!" Rikku was shocked by her sudden piggy back ride from Tidus. "Let me down! I don't need your help." She held onto his neck with one hand, careful not to fall, as she punched his shoulder with the other.

"Aw come on Rikku, I see you're hurt, there's no use in hiding it. It's okay, I really don't mind." Tidus turned his head towards her to look at her until she calmed her beating.

"Whatever…" She shrunk from her offensive pose and instead held on tightly to Tidus' shoulders and neck. She would have wished for this to happen any other day but today. The only thing she could think about at that moment was all of the hints that led her to feel that Tidus had feelings towards Yuna, and the humiliating incident earlier. Not only did she feel useless and disgraced because of her inability to fight for herself, she felt betrayed and embarrassed, thinking she had been led on by Tidus. She couldn't help but feel miserable holding onto his back.

Tidus could feel the tension as he felt Rikku turning her head, finding every angle she could to not look at his face or go near it. He could feel her breathing rapidly, as if she was angry. "Hey, ya know… you have nothing to be embarrassed about…" He began to speak with a gentle and reassuring voice. "I mean, that Iron Giant is no joke… and the Thunder Plains is a crazy place to be in. Honestly, I probably would have cried or peed my pants if I was in the same situation… so there's no need to be upset about that." He grinned at her, knowing she would not be able to see anyway. Rikku didn't give Tidus a single response.

"I mean, you've saved my butt plenty of times…" His grin grew larger as he thought of all the times he had to be saved by Rikku, remembering how strong and impressive she was. More silence came from Rikku, triggering Tidus into a monologue, and a session for him to think. "I mean… think about it. That's really crazy. I should feel kinda bad about being saved by a _girl_." The comment received a tighter grasp by Rikku, choking him slightly. "I-I mean… not that that's bad, you're a great fighter. You kick a lot of butt and you're…" Her grip loosened. "… really awesome in general, I think." He continued, almost not realizing that he was talking to Rikku anymore. At this point, he had fallen into a slight spell, thinking of his memories with Rikku and simply thinking of what kind of person she was. Rikku listened closely as his voice began to fall gentler and deeper into a silent whisper until finally, he stopped speaking and continued his conversation in his own thoughts. His words lightened her heart and thoughts; he really did care about her. Even if he was beginning to go out of topic, she couldn't help but feel relieved by his words. The sudden silence, broken only by the dull tapping of Tidus and Yuna's footsteps, broke Tidus from his thoughts. "So. Yeah. No worries…"

A small smile crept onto the Al Bhed's face as she bounced slightly with Tidus' every step. She looked at the moving floor below her and felt the warmth of Tidus as she gently held tighter. More silence followed as Yuna led Tidus through the forest. Once again, she felt comfortable and reassured with him; she rested her head against the side of his and closed her eyes. He noticed the feeling of her soft skin against his neck and grinned at himself; he felt his heart beating faster as her breath slowly tickled his skin. Rikku grinned as well before she slowly let the word escape her mouth, "Thanks."

-

Um. I. Don't. Know. Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long for just this. I really felt like I lost my touch after taking such a long time to update. (Well, not as long as like a year, but… long enough.) Sorry if that sounded like it was written by a 8 year old! This chapter didn't have much substance, anddd if it did… I felt like I forced it in there or something… so… this chapter wasn't great but I promise next chapter will be much better! (I HOPES)

Thank you so much for the reviews, they really help me know that I've still got my audience even after abandoning so much. (SORRY AGAIN!!)


	12. Twelve

Here's the 12th chapter! That's just nuts! I didn't think I could type this much!

Enjoy?

-

The next few minutes were quiet and comfortable for the small party as they managed to find their way through most of Macalania Woods. Still, Rikku's curious thoughts caused her to break the comfort and think of Tidus' actions. She inadvertently blurted out, "Must be weird seeing Yuna, huh?" Before the words could even reach Tidus' ears, she bit her lip and winced from letting herself slip. She felt Tidus' back straighten slightly as his grasp tightened.

"Hm?" Tidus' relaxed face suddenly twitched with confusion. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"Huh? Oh… heh- nothing." Rikku quickly shook her head and smiled nervously even though she knew Tidus couldn't see her.

"O-okay then…" Tidus' head bowed down as he thought of her question; a part of him knew exactly what she was asking. That same part caused him to continue even after a moment of silence. "I mean… yeah… it's weird. But, I mean… reliving your past is pretty weird to begin with, right?" He chuckled, receiving a few chuckles in return. Again, silence took over them, this time slightly less awkward.

"So… we were probably best friends right? In your 'dream'?" Rikku tilted her head and let herself fall back into a sense of security as she switched the topic away from Yuna.

Tidus let out a small chuckle and shook his head slowly. "Hm. I don't think so. We never really got to talk much… We mostly just talked about how to save the world." He frowned as his words traveled back into his own head and he realized that all of what he said was true.

"Oh." She relaxed her body and sighed; mildly disappointed at what was said and that she could no longer continue the conversation.

"But…" He lifted his head, looking at the mystical trees pass slowly with each step. "I'm really glad I got the chance this time." Tidus turned his head to peer at Rikku but was only able to grab a glimpse of the side of her face, which had turned slightly pink and was stretched with a smile.

"Me too…" She hugged Tidus tighter and closed her eyes to rest as he and Yuna walked on the strange twisting roads that seemed to lead to nowhere. Tidus smiled too, feeling his heart beating fast again. It was strange feeling this way, especially in Macalania Woods.

There were so many memories flooding his head, thoughts about Seymour and Yuna's marriage, the sphere he found with Auron, and, of course, the moments he spent with Yuna in the lake. He was almost certain he had put those memories to rest; he thought he would just move on, but it was difficult for him. What was going to happen after they meet up with Brother? Are the Guado going to attack Home? What were all these emotions confusing him? He sighed and looked forward, studying Yuna's distant body. Once again, he found it so strange to see her and feel nothing more than nostalgia, as if he were only looking back at his past. He couldn't be comfortable feeling almost no warmth as he studied her clothing, her hair, and the way she walked. It was all so familiar, but nothing else.

"Almost there, I think…" Yuna announced as she felt the forest atmosphere become colder with every passing moment; it was obvious that they were close to the heavily snowy area. Tidus grunted as a response, surprised by how easily they had traveled through the majority of the forest, without the need for butterflies or complicated things. Before they knew it, they had traveled through the rest of the forest and were out into the great white open lands of Lake Macalania. Yuna turned abruptly to finally look at the two; both of them were quiet and slightly weary. "Now what?"

"Um… let's just get to that inn for now." Rikku looked up from her resting place on Tidus' shoulder and nodded at Yuna.

"Alright then!" Tidus jerked Rikku up to regain his grip before bolting towards the inn. Even though he didn't mind holding Rikku, traveling through an entire forest was taking a toll on his already tired body and he really felt the need to rest and recollect his thoughts. Yuna stood in her spot, turning to watch Tidus running with her cousin on his back, a smirk grew on her face.

"Alright, let me down, let me down." Rikku was anxious too; moving around restlessly as Tidus entered the inn.

"Okay, okay!" Tidus turned to place Rikku on the closest seat, stretching afterwards. Yuna stepped into the inn as he finished stretching. His gaze fell upon her for a moment, just another attempt to find his past with this new Yuna, but he felt empty as he saw her familiar face that held no memories of him. He quickly broke the gaze and turned his body towards Rikku, who was stretching and resting as well. A sudden burst of warmth rushed through him, filling the emptiness and drawing a smile on his face.

An elder was sitting comfortably in the inn but as he saw Yuna's face, he hurried out of the inn. A couple of minutes of silence and relaxation passed before Yuna sighed. "This is all so complicated…" The two Al Bhed uniform clad teenagers suddenly twisted towards her to listen. "I still cannot understand why you have to keep me with you…"

"You know very well! I'm not gonna let you sacrifice your life." Rikku jumped in her seat, surprised that Yuna was still protesting after all this time.

"But it is my duty, and it is the path that I've chosen…"

"Listen, Rikku's right here. We don't need anymore summoners to die just to kill Sin. We-… I've done it before..." Tidus nodded, trying hard to be confident even though his reasoning sounded ludicrous.

"Then why is Sin still here?" Yuna's brows twitched with anger. "I don't understand."

"I know everything sounds kinda nuts right now, but Tidus really knows what he's talking about." Rikku interjected, ready to defend Tidus' absurd logic.

"I… I still don't know... I should leave… I have to. I should find my guardians…"

"We're your guardians now." Tidus looked back at Rikku then at Yuna, giving the summoner a reassuring grin but the grin was not enough for Yuna and she turned for the exit. "Besides! You lost your rod, so you can't possibly go wandering out there without us!"

Yuna sighed and turned abruptly, marching towards the receptionist. She placed her palm on the counter and bit her lip. "Hi. I am Summoner Yuna. I know I shouldn't be asking, but I was wondering if you had anything I could use as a weapon that I could have for free."

"O-Oh, Summoner Yuna. I did not recognize you. I heard stories about the Al Bhed an-"

"Yunie! Quit it! This is exactly the reason why they found us the last time!" Rikku pushed herself up in her seat in a futile attempt to stop her cousin.

"Hm?" The receptionist looked at Rikku and shrugged as Yuna tried to block Rikku from his view. "Well… I am sure that Rin's Travel Agency would be honored to lend you a weapon. Your pilgrimage is already a costly one, and we would love to help." The clerk reached under the counter and placed a Ductile Rod on top of it. "How is this?"

"It's perfect." Yuna took hold of the rod and smiled at it, thanking the clerk and walking towards the exit. "I guess I'll go find my friends now."

"Ugh. You don't know what you're doing." Tidus grabbed Rikku's arm and pulled her up, bringing her along as they followed Yuna outside. Outside of the inn, troops of Guado were waiting for them. Their small entourage stopped and jaws dropped as they looked upon the amount of Guado surrounding them.

"Maester Seymour has instructed us to bring Yuna to Macalania Temple. Do not resist and we will not harm you." The dominant Guado announced to the three.

"You should just let me go. I'm sorry. I know you wish the best for me… but I promise, this is. If you want, you can join me… you can find me at the temple later. I hope to see you." Yuna smiled gently at the two before walking towards the group of Guado, nodding at them. Tidus grunted angrily at Yuna and the Guado, furious of her stubborn ignorance once again. He turned to Rikku, who closed her eyes disappointedly. Even though he would have loved to protest, he knew that Rikku was in no condition to battle, and he could not take so many Guado alone. The two grumbled furiously as a few Guado led Yuna into the snowy plains, walking towards the temple.

As soon as Yuna had disappeared in the snowy blizzard, the remaining Guado leader turned to his people and lifted his arm. "Get rid of them." The group hesitated for a moment. "Lord Seymour's orders." And hearing that, they nodded and lunged towards Tidus and Rikku.

Tidus pulled out his blade and battled with the Guado closest to him, making sure none of them could get near Rikku. Though still injured, Rikku tried her best to fend for herself sitting on the ground, pulling bombs from her pockets and launching them into the back of the crowd. Suddenly, rumbling in the ground caused the group to disperse to look towards the plains. A group of Al Bhed on skidoos being lead by the large machina, the Crawler, rode up towards the inn.

"Kad dras!" **Get them!** A familiar voice beckoned to the group of Al Bhed. They quickly dismounted their machinas and rushed towards the crowd, eliminating the Guado with their weapons.

"Brother!" Rikku smiled from ear to ear, grateful that her brother had came just at the knick of time.

"Yna oui rind?" **Are you hurt?** Brother took a few steps forward, not needing an answer to see that she was hurt. He shook his head and looked around, finding no Yuna in sight. "Frana ec Yuna?" **Where is Yuna?**

"E ys cunno. Bmayca tuh'd damm vydran." **I am sorry. Please don't tell father. **Rikku bowed her head as Tidus shook his head, only understanding a few words. "Dra Guado duug ran. Fa ryja du ku du dra Macalania Temple." **The Guado took her. We have to go to the Macalania Temple.**

"Drah fa ku!" **Then we go!** Brother gestured at the two, turning around for a second before throwing an Al Bhed Potion at Tidus. "Give to Rikku." Tidus handed the potion to Rikku, who used it immediately. An Al Bhed jumped behind someone's skidoo instead of returning to his own, leaving one for Tidus and Rikku.

"He said to go, right? Come on." Tidus took Rikku's hand to bring her up from the ground, pulling her towards the empty skidoo as everyone else rode off. He mounted the bike and patted the seat behind him. "Hop on."

"Hey! Why can't I drive?" Rikku crossed her arms and frowned at Tidus.

"Well… last time you drove, the Extractor exploded." He joked with a large grin, but it was enough for her to scoff and hop onto the seat, clutching onto his torso. He revved the engine and sped after the rest of the Al Bhed.

The terrible winds became icier and more unforgiving as they traveled through the blizzard. Both wearing clothing fitted for warmer climate, their bodies were covered in goose bumps and quivering with shivers. "Oh man… it's really cold…" Rikku whispered to Tidus as her teeth chattered.

"Yeah…" He whispered back, squinting his eyes as the winds assaulting his face. He puffed a warm breath into the air and shivered. "Um…" He bit his lip, peeking back several times even though he couldn't see her. Still, he could feel a slight gap between them, creating a draft to blow against his back. "W-Why don't you… try holding a little tighter?" He gulped as her body warmth immediately caused more shivers to crawl up and down his spine.

He could feel her breathe in deeply as her grip tightened and she rested her face on his upper back. It was as if a simple embrace like this was enough to fully heat their bodies. This single act reminded him of this same exact act from his past. As Tidus drove to the temple, Rikku hugged him in just the same way after a hesitant conversation about Yuna. Back then, he didn't know what exactly she was talking about, or what was going on, but now as he looked back, he realized just how caring and considerate she was and is. All of the thoughts and memories distracted him, as if the blinding blizzard wasn't enough, and he suddenly felt a bump in the road.

"Eh?" Rikku's body jerked up as she looked past Tidus. "Tidus, LOOK OUT!" But before Tidus could focus on what was in front of him, they had collided into a snow bank. The sudden stop jolted both of them over the skidoo and onto the snow. "UGH."

"What, huh?" Tidus sat up, shaking his entire body to dust off the feathery snow.

"Aw, Tidus! I toldya I should've driven!" Rikku pushed herself up and brushed the snow from her body, shivering from the cold again. She mounted the bike and revved it, but it stalled and refused to start. "Aw man!"

"S-Sorry! I… I couldn't see where I was going." He placed a hand on the back of his head and apologized. As Rikku continued to toy with the bike, Tidus looked around at the seemingly infinite open plains. He could barely see past ten feet because of the heavy snowfall and the others were no where in sight.

"Ugh…" Rikku uttered a few Al Bhed curses under her breath and slapped the handle of the skidoo, officially giving up and turning to Tidus. She crossed her arms and blew snow away from her bangs. "Now what…?"

"I don't know… I guess we'll have to go walk through the storm and get to the temple that way?" Tidus shrugged. "Or… wait here for help… that's about it.

"Great. We get to freeze to death either way…" Rikku frowned at Tidus, disappointed in him. He gulped and looked at her with hopeless look on his face, embarrassed. She saw his miserable expression and immediately felt guilty. "Ah, Tidus… it's alright… the weather isn't exactly prefect to drive in anyway… Let me try working on the engine again." She gave him a cheerful smile and hopped to investigate the engine. He managed a smile as he waited patiently for her to report on the situation.

"How does it look? I'm sorry…"

"Egh… not so good…" Rikku looked up with a scrunched face of disapproval. Silence took over them as they felt suddenly helpless and lost in the storm. "Better start walking…" They simultaneously got to their feet and began walking.

"Man… what a wreck this is, huh?" Tidus winced at the situation as he slowly shuffled forward into nowhere. "I don't even know which way is up." Rikku shook her head at him and looked around, admiring the snow. Growing up by the sandy deserts near Home, she had barely seen snow more than a few times. She bent over and grabbed a handful of snow, cupping it into a ball. Suddenly her fun-loving self took over again and a desire to throw it caused her to chuck it at the back of Tidus' head. "Hey!"

"That's what you get for getting us into this mess!" Rikku kidded, bending over to grab another ball of snow. Seeing this, Tidus immediately grabbed his own ammunition and threw it at Rikku before she could form a snow ball. She dropped her snow and braced for impact but the the powdery snow exploded from his hands and gently sprinkled onto Rikku's face. She opened one eye, winking at the small cloud of snow, and giggled. "Was that it?" Tidus' face turned red; he was absolutely stunned by his wimpy snowball. Rikku quickly reformed her ball of snow and chucked it at him, getting him right in the face.

Suddenly, all the feelings of desperation and hopelessness were erased from their thoughts and they were simply having fun once again. Though immature in a way, it felt great to not have to worry, even if it was for a moment.

"Hey! I'll get you for that!" Tidus lunged at Rikku, embarrassed by himself. Rikku sidestepped and tripped as she tried to avoid his attack, throwing a cloud of snow into the air. Tidus stopped in his tracks and smiled at Rikku, laughing as she shook the light snow off of her head. Playful in nature, she pounced from below and caught Tidus by the shoulders, bringing him down onto his back and throwing more snow into the air. The blitzer quickly fought back and wrestled to gain the upper hand while Rikku tried to rub handfuls of snow into Tidus' face. Finally, after a friendly wrestling match, Rikku had him pinned down by the arms. All the fighting caused enormous amounts of snow to be dug up, forming a blanket of weightless snow around them.

They laughed and grinned at each other, realizing how childish they were acting but feeling no shame in their playfulness. Tidus continued to gently struggle underneath her as she sat on top of his stomach.

"Come on, let me go." He said between giggles, breathless.

"Only if you promise you'll let me drive everything from now on." Rikku giggled back. "You can't drive to save yourself!"

Tidus felt slightly embarrassed again, feeling the need to have a comeback. Without even thinking, he slipped out, "Well, I would have been driving perfectly if you weren't distracting me."

"Distracting you?" Rikku lightheartedly tilted her head in confusion. "What'd I do?" She stared into his aqua blue eyes, waiting for an answer. As their eyes locked, an incredible rush of blood into his head could have almost knocked him out, but instead, he closed his eyes.

"Nothing! I didn't mean anything by it!" Tidus kept his eyes closed, shaking his head in denial. It took only a moment for Rikku to realize that Tidus was being timid about something, and his blushing cheeks gave it all away. He waited for a reply but got none. His eyelids crept open and peered at the Al Bhed before him. As his sight focused on the girl, he noticed how much she was glowing against the white canvas of the Macalanian sky. His breathing became tamed and relaxed all of a sudden as he studied Rikku's face. She was grinning at him, with sparkles in her eyes, and small snow flakes resting on her hair and eyelashes. The warm feeling in his chest urged him forward as Rikku's body relaxed and she removed her arms from his shoulders.

Tidus gazed at the swirls in her emerald eyes and felt as if he was hypnotized, falling into a trance. He slowly brought himself up onto his elbows, moving closer to her. Rikku could feel the warmth of his body and breath as she followed him, leaning in. Tidus closed his eyes and moved his face towards hers when suddenly the sound of roaring engines interrupted their warm moment. Rikku immediately reacted, pushing him down onto his back and jumping off of him.

"Rikku! Fryd yna oui tuehk? Ec ajanodrehk ugyo?" **Rikku! What are you doing? Is everything okay? **Even underneath the layer of snow that had piled on top of Tidus' face, he was able to recognize Brother's voice. He sighed heavily, blowing the snow away from his mouth as the moment finally sunk into him. He quickly pulled himself up and dusted the snow from him, waving at Brother. The hot red color on his face was enough to melt any snow left on him. Rikku quickly looked back at Tidus with a hesitant grin before turning back to Brother.

"Uin pega pnuga tufh, Tidus zicd dnebbat. Dryd'c ymm." **Our bike broke down. Tidus just tripped. That's all. **Rikku gave Brother a large convincing smile and innocently shrugged. Without another word, Brother gestured Tidus to follow and pulled Rikku onto the back of his ride. Tidus chuckled shyly and walked up to the back of a familiar looking Al Bhed's bike, mounting it slowly as he looked at Rikku with an almost mortified expression. Rikku giggled at the comedy of the situation and turned around, grabbing hold of Brother as Tidus mimicked the act by holding onto his driver. Both of them closed their eyes and laughed at themselves as the group sped towards the temple.

-

haha. TEASE. Are you guys gonna kill me?

I love you guys. Don't hurt me!! I have a feeling chapter 13's gonna be boring. gimme some ideas if you want! thanks.


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